The FIM Flat Track World Championship concludes this weekend with an historic first journey outside Europe when back-to-back rounds \u2013 the first on a TT track and the second on a conventional oval circuit \u2013 are staged at Totoras in the Santa Fe province of Argentina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year’s extended ten-round series has been dominated by British racers with Tim Neave (VRX Power Maxed Dirt Store Ducati) leading his team-mate and series newcomer Ashton Boughen by nineteen points after eight rounds and Jack Bell (Triumph) only another five points behind in third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Up until round eight in the Czech Republic earlier this month, the trio had won every Final staged this year, but the British win-streak was ended in the Speedway Stadium Pardubice by home favourite Ond\u0159ej Sv\u011bd\u00edk (KTM Schruf \u2013 Zucco Racing) who travels to South America with an outside chance of taking a medal this year to add to the bronze he claimed last season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the biggest threat to the top three’s medal aspirations is likely to come from defending and two-time champion Ervin Kraj\u010dovi\u010d (KTM Schruf \u2013 Zucco Racing) who is currently ten points behind Bell and 2022 champion Gerard Bailo (Zaeta) from Spain who is only a further three points adrift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boughen set the pace at the start of the season with wins at the opening two rounds in the Netherlands and Italy before Neave took back-to-back victories in Germany and Croatia to tie Boughen for the series lead and Bell then claimed his own double in Germany and Great Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A disastrous home round cost Boughen major points when he finished back in seventeenth, but the nineteen-year-old fought back to win at round seven in Hungary before losing more ground on Neave in the Czech Republic where he finished off the podium in fifth as his team-mate followed Sv\u011bd\u00edk across the line to extend his series lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While only the top six will start with a mathematical chance of winning a medal, competition has been fierce all season and there is no shortage of riders looking to sign off from the longest series in the discipline’s sixteen-year history with a podium finish, including the Ukraine’s Stanislav Ohorodnik (Husqvarna) who sits seventh and is still looking for a career-first podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Argentina’s Matias Lorenzato and Santiago Arangio have both contested rounds this season and will be hoping for passionate home support to spur them on, but they will also have to contend with a big entry of fellow Argentine racers led by 2026 national champion Juan Mart\u00edn Viganoni (Husqvarna).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although only an occasional competitor in this year’s championship, 2024 champion Sammy Halbert is also on the starting list, and the thirty-nine-year-old American must be considered a genuine podium threat this weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The FIM Flat Track World Championship concludes this weekend with an historic first journey outside Europe when back-to-back<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[419,311],"class_list":["post-16923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-flat-track","tag-motorsports"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t