Morelli Masterclass: wildcard shakes up Thruxton

The wildcard makes it a clean sweep despite the field closing in for Race 2The 2024 R&G British Talent Cup’s sixth round was a Thruxton thriller with a dominant Race 1 victory from wildcard Marco Morelli (Fibre Tec Honda – MLav Racing).

The race began with Amanuel Brinton (Kovara Projects / RS Racing) on pole, coming into the round just 25 points behind championship leader Lucas Brown (SENCAT Talent Team / Mortimer Racing). However, it was wildcard entry Marco Morelli who quickly made his presence felt, moving up the field and challenging for the lead by breaking free from the pack by the end of the first lap, leaving Ryan Frost Frost (Fibre Tec Honda – MLav Racing), who had taken the holeshot at the start, without response.

A lead pack then formed, comprising familiar faces with Julian Correa (Microlise Cresswell Racing), Brinton, Brown, Ryan and Filip Surowiak (Honda – Team City Lifting/RS Racing) trading places and all vying for the lead and pulling over two seconds clear of the rest by the fifth lap.

Towards the end of lap 11, disaster struck for championship contender Brinton who made a misjudgement, clipped Lucas Brown, and ran off onto the grass, eventually crashing out. The incident allowed Frost and Correa to escape and finish second and third respectively.

The main news of the day, however, was wildcard Marco Morelli’s 11.785 second victory, coming from the European Talent Cup to show the British Talent Cup the level they’re aiming for as they all make progress on the Road to MotoGP™.

They made some of that progress in Race 2, with the Argentinian impressing to secure his second victory of the weekend – but this time with a much smaller lead.

The battle for the remaining podium positions was fiercely contested with Surowiak putting in a strong performance to claim second place. Correa rounded out the podium, closely trailing Surowiak with a gap of just 0.074 seconds.

Brown, the championship leader, managed to secure a fourth-place finish. It was challenging weekend for the SENCAT Talent Team / Mortimer Racing rider, who couldn’t match the pace of the leading trio but he was able to capitalise on the Race 1 mistake by his closest championship rival, Brinton, who rebounded to finish in fifth place in Race 2, as Brown carries his dominant lead into Round 7, 38 points clear.

The riders now head into a summer break, a chance to catch a breath and maybe even a rare British sunny day, before returning to action at Oulton Park on September 15th.

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