BOUGHEN AND DUCATI MAKE IT 2 OUT OF 2!

Images courtesy of Jesper Veldhuizen

VRX Dirt Store Ducati Race Team and rookie Ashton Boughen made it two wins out of two at Terenzano on Saturday to continue an extraordinary start to the FIM Flat Track World Championship campaign.

18-year-old Boughen, who has stunned the establishment with the speed in which he has adapted to a new discipline, went through the card in Round 2 with wins in his four qualifying races before a spectacular effort from the back in the Final.

Having added to his victory at Roden earlier this month, Boughen now holds a six-point lead in the Championship standings, whilst team-mate Tim Neave is in a three-way tie for third overall after a strong fifth-place finish in Italy. And it also means that Ducati, in their first year in the competition, lead the manufacturer’s standings with a six-point advantage over Zaeta.

Both Ducati riders were prominent throughout the proceedings with Boughen showing impressive speed to romp to a string of wins in the qualifiers.

There was a clear statement of intent when he stormed around the outside in the early stages to finish ahead of Gerard Bailo (Zaeta) and defending World Champion Ervin Krajcovic (KTM) in Heat 4 as three of the top riders clashed.

In a terrific Heat 8 Boughen started from the back row of the grid but he made into second place on lap two before reeling in Ondrej Svedik (KTM), dramatically diving inside the Czech rider on the last bend to win by less than five-hundredths of a second.

Then in Heat 11 he was again on the back row, but a superb outside line saw him go past his rivals and hit the front by the time they went into the second lap.

Neave also made it safely through the qualifiers and secured a place on the front row of the grid for the Final, starting with second places behind Krajcovic and Svedik, before he won Heat 9 and finished third in Heat 12.

That meant Boughen had first pick of starting position for the 12-rider, 12-lap Final and he selected gate 5 whilst Neave, with fourth pick, went for gate 3. It turned out to be Boughen’s toughest race of the day as his outside run was blocked in the early stages with Bailo and Krajcovic contesting the lead, whilst Neave stormed inside Boughen at the end of lap one to go into third place. Bailo moved ahead after three laps of close racing against Krajcovic, whilst Boughen making it inside Neave on lap five as the Ducati duo also had to fend off pressure from Jack Bell. The leaders then delayed each other with a lap six battle which brought Boughen right into contention, and having gone for the tighter inside line he rode a sensational seventh lap to get past both Krajcovic and Bailo in one move on turns three and four. The top five were now clear, with the main action taking place for runners-up spot as Bailo and Krajcovic continued their race-long scrap, and Boughen raced clear to win by nearly a full second whilst Nevae just missed out on re-passing Bell for fourth place.

Boughen said: “I’m just having fun riding my bike and racing, and the results have come. I know I can ride any bike, I can do anything on a bike – it’s my life, I grew up racing bikes and it just shows.“I’m in a good team, the best team, and we’re all working together. Tim and I are racing against each other, but we still work together and it’s a perfect set-up.“This is only my fifth go on a Flat Track bike, I’ve done no training, just racing and having fun!”

VRX Management Ltd MD Rob Painter said: “I’m really proud of the whole team today, a fantastic performance from everyone. We are starting to build some momentum, which is excellent considering the limited time we’ve had.

“Tim put in the fastest lap of the round which shows again that we’ve got good pace, and Ashton’s fastest lap came in the Final which pleases me as we spoke a lot today about pushing at the right time.

“We didn’t make very good starts in the Final, which was a shame as we had the capability to finish 1-2 but unfortunately found ourselves in traffic, and that can make it hard to push as you have riders all around you.“Ashton managed to use his Speedway experience and find some grip down low on turn 3, and that made all the difference so he could get to the front.

“Outstanding from everyone today and Ashton’s performance was close to perfect. He is showing the level of ability we knew he had and the reason that we bought him into Flat Track World Championship.”

The series now takes a break of one month before a vital double of two rounds in two weeks, starting at Teterow in Germany on June 27 before moving on to Donji Kraljevec (Gorican) in Croatia on July 4.

RESULT: 1 Ashton Boughen, 2 Gerard Bailo, 3 Ervin Krajcovic, 4 Jack Bell, 5 Tim Neave, 6 Sebastien Jeanpierre, 7 Ondrej Svedik, 8 Daniele Tonelli, 9 Santiago Arangio 10 Sammy Halbert, 11 Gary Birtwistle, 12 Stanislav Ohorodnik.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 2: Boughen 51, Bailo 45, Krajcovic 36, Neave 36, Bell 36, Tonelli 28, Svedik 23, Jeanpierre 22, Ohorodnik 19, Stef Hamstra 16.

MANFACTURER STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 2: Ducati 50, Zaeta 44, KTM 38, Triumph 38, TM 32, Honda 28, Husqvarna 27, Picasso Engineering 25, Suzuki 25, Beta 25.

FIM FLAT TRACK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 2 PREVIEW - TERENZANO

Image Courtesy of Jesper Veldhuizen

VRX Dirt Store Ducati Race Team head into Saturday’s second round of the FIM Flat Track World Championship aiming to build on a stunning start to the series.

First and third places in the Netherlands earlier this month for debutant Ashton Boughen and Tim Neave represented a remarkable opening, as both riders and their machinery performed at the highest level with a double podium finish being the outcome.

The Desmo450 MX became the first Ducati entry to take victory in any round of an FIM off-road category, and to achieve the result on debut was a moment of immense pride for all concerned.

With that success will undoubtedly come increased expectations, although all within the team are aware that this is a long series, running right through until October, and every round will present a different challenge.

From the grasstrack based circuit of Roden, Round 2 takes place in Italy at the well-established venue of Terenzano, which is also set to host this year’s Speedway Grand Prix Challenge in July.

At 400m, Terenzano is a big track in Speedway terms but given the wide variety of Flat Track venues, there is a marked contrast from Roden (600m) both in size and surface.

Boughen will proudly carry the Championship leader’s Red plate after his incredible Round 1 victory on his series debut, and Saturday will once again be new territory as he has never raced in Terenzano.

Meanwhile Neave goes into the event in good form having secured back-to-back wins in Rounds 3 and 4 of the DTRA Flat Track Nationals series at Greenfield earlier this month, enjoying success on both the oval and TT tracks.

Competition will be fierce, especially with the return of 2024 World Champion Sammy Halbert (Picasso Engineering) who is competing in selected events this season and will be racing a new OMT450 project machine.

Defending champion Ervin Krajcovic (KTM) finished fifth in the opening round but will take confidence from the fact that he won at Terenzano last year ahead of Daniele Tonelli, Ondrej Svedik and Gerard Bailo, all of whom can be expected to be in contention.

Tonelli was sixth in the opener and has been putting together a dominant run of results in the Italian series, where he has won all three rounds so far.

Meanwhile Bailo battled Boughen all the way in Roden before eventually finishing second, whilst Svedik’s late charge in the Final was thwarted by disqualification for exceeding track limits.

VRX Management Ltd MD Rob Painter said: “The opening round was a dream start for us, and now the challenge is to maintain that momentum in what is a very competitive series.

“We are under no illusions as to the difficulty of remaining on top, but everyone is focused on the job in hand.

“Ashton had a training session in Lonigo on Wednesday, and he is developing his Flat Track style every time he is on the bike.

“Tim will take the confidence of an excellent start to the season into Round 2, and overall it’s another meeting we can look forward to with high hopes.”

Coverage of Round 2 in Terenzano is available from https://fim-moto.tv/flat_track and will get underway from 6.30pm BST.

DUCATI HISTORY MADE IN FIM FLAT TRACK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!

VRX Dirt Store Ducati's Ashton Boughen wins Round 1 of the FIM Flat Track World Championship in Roden, Holland with Tim Neave also making the podium in third place. Images courtesy of Jesper Veldhuizen.

VRX Dirt Store Ducati Race Team have made history with their sensational debut in the FIM Flat Track World Championship series in Roden.

The opening appearance for the newly formed team saw them become the first ever Ducati entry to take victory in any round of an FIM off-road World Championship category event.

It was Dutch delight for 18-year-old Ashton Boughen, who produced one of the biggest shocks in the history of the competition by winning on his first-ever appearance in the Championship, barely months after switching to the discipline. And completing a remarkable start for the brand new Desmo450 MX, Tim Neave was also on the podium in third place, the two British riders being split by former World No.2 Gerard Bailo.

Boughen collected the full haul of 26 Championship points as he clocked the fastest lap time in the Final, and the result also means Ducati sit top of the manufacturer standings after the opening round.

Both Ducati riders comfortably qualified for the Final on the front row of the grid, Boughen easing any nerves by winning his opening ride where he headed Bailo. After finishing fourth and third in his next two outings, he defeated Bailo again to win Heat 12 and end the qualifiers on 23 points, with only Bailo (26) and Jack Bell (25) scoring more.

Neave was also on 23 points after a consistent display which saw him open up with a third place before recording wins in Heats 6 and 11, and a fourth in Heat 7.

Gate selections for the Final saw the Ducati pair lining up side by side on the outside of the front row of the 12-rider field, with Boughen in gate 5 and Neave in gate 6. Boughen immediately raced to the front and into a battle with Daniele Tonelli, whilst Neave was under threat from Bailo as they contested third place.

After rounding Tonelli on the third lap Boughen had little time to relax as he immediately faced a fresh challenge from Bailo, with Neave clearing Tonelli midway through the 12-lap race. Remaining fully committed to the outside, Boughen repeatedly held his nerve as Bailo looked to make an inside move stick, and when Neave caught the front pair on lap eight the battle was firmly joined.

The ninth lap saw Boughen move decisively ahead of Bailo, who found himself under threat from Neave looking to follow through on the same line, and their battle enabled World No.3 Ondrej Svedik to close in and make it a three-way scrap for second place. However, the Czech Republic rider exceeded track limits at the start of the last lap as he went too wide, and briefly Neave held second place before Bailo re-took the position – before the Spaniard’s late bid to catch Boughen saw him fall short by just over a tenth of a second.

That meant it was celebrations for Boughen and the Ducati camp, with Bailo second and Neave third. Svedik was disqualified for his track limits transgression, which elevated Bell to fourth place whilst defending Champion Ervin Krajkcovic rescued fifth ahead of Tonelli.

Boughen said: “I don’t really know how it feels! It’s only my fourth go on Flat Track and I’m just having fun, that’s what I came here to do and the results are what they are.

“I’m really happy and I just want to keep improving, keep riding my bike and keep having fun.”

VRX Management MD Rob Painter paid tribute to a magnificent all-round effort to set up the new race team and to immediately compete with the best in the series. And he was also delighted with how the rider line-up gelled, as Neave’s experience proved crucial to the success, whilst rookie Boughen was able to make some incredible headlines.

Painter said: “The first round of a new season is always an exciting and tense time, but after setting up a completely new race team from scratch and building new bikes, especially considering this was the debut race in FIM Flat Track for Ducati and it being Ashton’s debut as well, things couldn’t have gone much better!

“Having Tim’s experience in the team is a real bonus for us. Tim is calm and focused to get everything possible out of the Desmo450 MX, and it’s really exciting to think that we know there is still lots more to come from the riders and the bikes.

“The team in the pits did an amazing job. Tomasin R&D's Enrico, Pietro and Lorenzo made sure that the bikes were immaculate both visually and technically, their vast expertise and experience in the off road category is invaluable and when you consider that Flat Track is a new discipline to them as well, those guys really were impressive.

“Ashton’s performance was spectacular. I said to him at the beginning of the day that we’ll start ticking off a list of his achievements in the Championship as we go, and to start making small goals that he can focus on like first race win, first Last Chance and so on… at the end of the day he came to me and said that he’d ticked them all off in one day!

“It was a special day for Ashton, a unique way to enter a new World Championship discipline and I’m so pleased for him and his Dad, Brad.

“I’m sure that it hasn’t really sunk in yet but that is Ducati’s first ever off-road FIM World Championship round win, which is something very special.”

After a three-week break, the series heads to Italy on May 30 for Round 2, which takes place at the famous Speedway venue of Terenzano.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 1: Ashton Boughen 26, Gerard Bailo 22, Tim Neave 20, Jack Bell 18, Ervin Krajcovic 16, Daniele Tonielli 15, Stef Hamstra 14, Menno van Meer 13, William Bonnicii 12, Maikel Dijkstra 11, Stanislav Ohorodnik 10, Ondrej Svedik 9, Saku Purtilo 8, Sebastien Jeanpiere 7, Daniele Tuzi 6, Sebastian Thalheim 5, Malene Solvang 4, Thomas Hunt 3, Conny Ivarsson 2, Gary Birtwistle 1, Nikita Alyani 0, Santiago Arangio 0, Antonin Bergeron 0, Marius Kircher 0.

MANUFACTURER STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 1: Ducati 25, Zaeta 22, Triumph 20, KTM 18, TM 16, Honda 15, Suzuki 14, Husqvarna 13, Yamaha 12, Beta 11, Picasso Engineering 10.

Ashton Boughen leading Zaeta's Gerard Bailo Pelegrin in Roden, Holland.