Just one week after a dramatic third round in Teterow, the stars of the FIM Flat Track World Championship will be back in action this coming Saturday when the Stadion Milenium in Donji Kraljevec, Croatia, plays host to round four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The man carrying most momentum heading into Croatia is Britain’s Tim Neave (VRX Dirt Store Ducati) who raced to a decisive victory last time out in Germany to claim a career-first Grand Final win following five previous podium finishes since making his championship debut in 2023.
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The thirty-one-year-old former British Superbike Championship competitor dropped just a single point in Germany as he raced to a landmark victory ahead of Argentinian Mathias Lorenzato and 2024 champion Sammy Halbert (Picasso Engineering – OMT Squadra Corse Italiana) from the USA to climb to second in the standings alongside 2022 champion Gerard Bailo (Zaeta) from Spain.
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After winning the opening two rounds, Neave’s compatriot and team-mate Ashton Boughen was fourth in Teterow and the eighteen-year-old leads by nine points in his debut season in the championship, but there is a long way to go in the extended series and seven more rounds of racing spread over almost four months still stand between the former youth national Motocross champion and the FIM gold medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With so many points up for grabs until the series signs off with back-to-back rounds in Argentina in late October, it is far too early to write anyone off and defending champion Ervin Kraj\u010dovi\u010d (KTM Schruf \u2013 Zucco Racing) \u2013 although currently fourth and trailing Boughen by nineteen points \u2013 remains very much in contention, despite twice missing the podium so far this season.
The Czech star is just five points ahead of Britain’s experienced Jack Bell (Triumph), who has started the season looking fast and fresh, before an eleven-point gap to Ond\u0159ej Sv\u011bd\u00edk (KTM Schruf \u2013 Zucco Racing) \u2013 another seriously quick rider from the Czech Republic \u2013 who has a Grand Final win on his racing r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and won bronze last season.
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Behind them is a field full of talent looking to advance up the points table with Halbert, a former American Motorcyclist Association Grand National Champion and X-Games gold medallist, looking ominous after sitting out the opening round before agreeing to develop the Swiss-designed OMT 450 project bike.
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Lorenzato missed the opening two rounds, but his second-placed finish at Teterow \u2013 in his first championship appearance since 2023 \u2013 indicates even greater things to come so he must be considered a contender in Croatia and do not rule out riders of the calibre of Italy’s Daniele Tonelli (TM – Donelli’s Garage) and French rider S\u00e9bastien Jeanpierre, while Ukrainian Stanislav Ohorodnik (Husqvarna) and Britain’s Gary Birtwistle (Dirt Craft Powered by Royal Enfield) will rate their chances on another short, technical circuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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