Gerard Bailo (left), Tim Neave (centre) and Jack Bell (right) at 2026 FIM Flat Track World Championship of Argentina, Totoras © Jesper Veldhuizen
British rider Tim Neave (VRX Power Maxed Dirt Store Ducati) clinched the FIM Flat Track World Championship at the tenth and concluding round in Totoras, Argentina, on Sunday as home hotshot Juan José Coduri (KTM) raced to victory in an action-packed Final.
Neave started the event needing just one point to claim the crown and victory in his third Heat guaranteed him a place in the top twenty – and that all-important point – to strike FIM gold in what has been a pivotal season for the series that saw it extended to its longest-ever duration and took competitors outside Europe for the first time in its sixteen-year history.
Following yesterday’s penultimate round on the TT course, the series signed off on the more familiar oval circuit where Argentinian racers used home advantage to dominate against the championship regulars.
Argentina’s Matias Lorenzato (Beta), who won on Saturday, carried his momentum into Sunday’s decider to win the opening six-lap Heat from Spain’s Gerard Bailo (Yamaha) before Coduri defeated Neave and his compatriot and sole title rival Jack Bell (Triumph). Gerónimo Castelli (KTM) then claimed another home win ahead of his fellow countrymen Francisco Alocco and Matias Emanuel Frey and Argentinian national champion Juan Martín Viganoni concluded the opening block with victory over Spain’s Ferran Cardús and Czech racer Ondřej Svědík (KTM Schruf – Zucco Racing).
The second block began with Neave leading home Lorenzato and Svědík and after Cardús had beaten Castelli, Argentina’s Sebastian Verdoia (KTM) had defeated Viganoni and Frey had won from his compatriot Maximiliano Varas there was a five-way tie at the top.
Neave’s defining moment came with his second victory of the programme that put the title out of reach of Bell and focus then shifted to the twenty-three-year-old British rider’s fight for series silver against 2022 champion Bailo. With a fifteen-point lead over the Spaniard, Bell was in the dominant position, but he knew the slightest slip could cancel out his advantage.
After further wins for Castelli and Viganoni, Bell then raced to his first victory of the programme with Bailo fourth to conclude the third block and strengthen his claim to second in the championship.
With the top ten after the Heats heading directly into the Final and the next ten going through to the Last Chance Heat to decide the remaining two places in the evening’s main event, Castelli, Bell and Svědík ran one-two-three at the start of the concluding block of racing to guarantee their progress.
Lorenzato then led home Cardús and Frey before Coduri defeated Neave with Varas winning the final Heat of the programme ahead of his compatriot Hipólito Martini (KTM).
The five-lap Last Chance Heat was won by Bailo from Martini as former champion Sammy Halbert went out, capping a disappointing weekend for the American, but the trip to Argentina was even worse for reigning champion Ervin Krajčovič (KTM Schruf – Zucco Racing) from the Czech Republic who failed to reach even this stage for the second consecutive time.
Lorenzato grabbed the lead in the twelve-lap Final as Neave struggled off the line and after resisting early pressure from Castelli and Bell, the Argentinian looked odds-on to repeat his Saturday win. Coduri was also laying down fast lap times and by lap five he was up to second, but by this point Lorenzato held a clear lead until he slid off on lap nine while out on his own.
Coduri inherited the lead and held it to the flag to win from Varas, Viganoni and Frey with Bell ensuring the silver medal in sixth, two places ahead of Bailo, but even after recording his worst score of the season in twelfth the title belonged to a delighted Neave, Great Britain’s first-ever FIM Flat Track World Champion.
