Morelli Masterclass: Wildcard shakes up Thruxton

Round six of the 2024 R&G British Talent Cup was a true Thruxton sensation with a dominant victory in Race 1 from wildcard Marco Morelli (Fibre Tec Honda – MLav Racing).

The race started with Amanuel Brinton (Kovara Projects / RS Racing) on ​​pole, 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 forward and challenging for the lead by breaking away from the pack at the end of the first lap, leaving Ryan Frost Frost (Fibre Tec Honda – MLav Racing), who had taken the holeshot at the start, without a response.

A leading group then formed with familiar faces such as Julian Correa (Microlise Cresswell Racing), Brinton, Brown, Ryan and Filip Surowiak (Honda – Team City Lifting/RS Racing). They swapped places and all fought for the lead. By the fifth lap they had already built up a lead of more than two seconds over the rest.

Towards the end of lap 11, disaster struck for championship contender Brinton who misjudged, hit Lucas Brown and ended up on the grass, where he eventually crashed. The incident allowed Frost and Correa to escape and finish second and third respectively.

The biggest news of the day, however, was the victory of wildcard rider Marco Morelli in a time of 11.785 seconds. He took this victory in the European Talent Cup and showed the British Talent Cup the level they are aiming for as they progress on the Road to MotoGP™.

Some of that progress was made in Race 2, with the Argentine impressing to secure his second win of the weekend – albeit this time by a much smaller margin.

The battle for the remaining podium positions was fierce, with Surowiak putting in a strong performance to claim second place. Correa completed the podium, just behind Surowiak with a gap of just 0.074 seconds.

Championship leader Brown managed to secure fourth place. It was a challenging weekend for the SENCAT Talent Team / Mortimer Racing driver, who was unable to match the pace of the leading trio, but he did capitalise on the Race 1 mistake of his biggest championship rival Brinton, catching up to finish fifth in Race 2, while Brown takes his dominant lead into Round 7, 38 points clear.

The riders now enter a summer break, a chance to catch their breath and perhaps even enjoy a rare sunny British day, before returning to action at Oulton Park on September 15.