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.

FIM FLAT TRACK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 1 PREVIEW

The all-new VRX Dirt Store Ducati Race Team will make its FIM Flat Track World Championship debut this Saturday in Roden.

Great Britain riders Tim Neave and Ashton Boughen compete in the first of ten rounds, racing the recently launched Desmo450 MX as the battle for the title gets underway.

Ducati enter the fast-growing series for the first time, and whilst the diverse nature of the ten rounds staged on a wide variety of circuits will present clear challenges, the new model has already shown itself to be adaptable and versatile.

Former World No.4 Tim Neave and youngster Ashton Boughen represent the team, with promising results having already been achieved in build-up events.

An extensive testing programme has been carried out in Italy, which included an entry into the first round of the national Flat Track series where Neave won all four qualifying races before an incident on the first bend of the Final left him making a recovery effort to finish sixth.

Boughen recorded two wins and two seconds in the qualifiers and then finished an impressive second behind Daniele Tonelli in the Final as he continues to adapt to a new discipline of racing.

Former World No.4 Neave finished sixth overall in the 2025 World Championship, as having seen his title chances effectively disappear in a disastrous opening round, he hit back strongly with podium finishes in the second half of the season at Scheesel and Vasad.

The opening round of the series will be a step into the unknown for many, as the Dutch venue has regularly staged FIM Long Track World Championship events in recent years, but this will be the first time the Flat Track World Championship comes to the Speed Centre Roden.

Defending Champion Ervin Krajcovic will be favourite to take a third title, and over a ten-round series he will be confident that his consistency will be key. Krajcovic edged out 2024 Champion Sammy Halbert by just five points in last year’s series, but his main challenge is set to come from elsewhere as the American will not be contesting the full campaign.

Taking third place overall in 2025 was Krajcovic’s fellow Czech Republic racer Ondrej Svedik, whilst 2022 Champion Gerard Bailo will look for a return to top honours having finished seventh last year, just behind Kevin Corradetti, Tonelli and Neave. 

Riders from twelve nations overall will compete in the event, with British riders Thomas Hunt (Yamaha), Jack Bell (Triumph) and Gary Birtwistle (Royal Enfield) also included.

There are four qualifying races for each rider, with each race featuring eight competitors. The top ten proceed to the Final with the next ten in the 24-rider field going to the Last Chance, from which the top two make up a 12-rider line-up for the Final.

VRX Management Ltd MD Rob Painter said: “We’re pleased with the testing results, but we do know in Flat Track there is a huge difference between the venues in terms of size, far more than in Speedway. At 600m, Roden is going to be bigger than anything Ashton has ever ridden, so it’s still very much going to be a learning curve. There are no expectations being placed on him, this all about enjoying it and building for the future.

“With Tim, there’s no doubt that he wants to compete for wins, especially as he’s never won a round before so that’s a big target for him this year. We’d love to see Tim on the podium as much as possible, and I do feel it’s realistic to think he could be challenging for an overall medal.

“Everyone in the team is pushing hard. It’s Ducati’s first time in this category, bringing in a brand-new bike, and everyone is motivated to do all we can make it a successful start.”

Full coverage of the FIM Flat Track World Championship will be available from https://fim-moto.tv/flat_track Saturday’s opening round in Roden gets underway at 2pm UK time, following on from the FIM Long Track Under-23 World Cup.

VRX DIRT STORE DUCATI PRESS RELEASE

VRX Management Ltd are delighted to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Ducati UK for a two-rider entry into the 2026 FIM Flat Track World Championship.

The Race Team will be represented by current British Flat Track Champion Tim Neave and rising talent Ashton Boughen as they compete in the series over ten rounds across eight different countries.

The partnership is the result of many months of careful preparation with long-term aspirations of success in one of the world’s fastest growing motorcycle disciplines.

VRX Management are best known for their administration of the Great Britain Speedway Team, an arrangement which has been in place since 2018 and has produced FIM Speedway of Nations Gold medals in both 2021 and 2024. Now VRX are proud to team up with world-famous Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati, who will be entering the Flat Track World Championship for the first time with the Ducati Desmo 450 MX.

VRX is also partnering with Dirt Store one of the UK’s leading suppliers of off-road apparel, parts and equipment, and they will be providing full support for the team as title partners.

On the rider roster, 30-year-old Neave is the current ACU British Flat Track Champion and finished sixth in the World Championship last year, having finished fourth overall in 2024. He has also competed in the British Superbike Championship.

Boughen, 18, previously raced for Yamaha Europe in MX, where he is a former British Youth Champion, and after Speedway outings in recent years he will now be making his debut in the Flat Track World Championship.

The series gets underway in the Netherlands at Roden on May 9, with ‘home’ events taking place for manufacturer Ducati at Terenzano, Italy on May 30, and for the team and riders at King’s Lynn in the UK on August 29. The final two rounds are at Argentinean venue Totoras in October.

Fabrizio Cazzoli, Managing Director Ducati UK Ltd:

Ducati UK is delighted to extend its congratulations to the newly established VRX Dirt Store Ducati Race Team as they embark on this exciting new chapter. We are proud to see the Ducati Desmo 450 MX showcased in an environment that differs from its traditional cross setting.

As the very first flat track team to utilise this model, this initiative highlights the remarkable versatility and adaptability of the Ducati platform. This project represents an important milestone, demonstrating how the Desmo 450 MX can perform across diverse disciplines while maintaining the performance and engineering excellence synonymous with the Ducati name.

We wish the Team every success for the season ahead and look forward to following their progress closely. 

Rob Painter, Managing Director VRX Management Ltd:

We’ve kept a very close eye on the growth of the FIM Flat Track World Championship in recent years, and we have also attended various events in the series to gain a full understanding of how the series operates.
The opportunity to partner with an iconic manufacturer such as Ducati, who themselves are excited to see their recently launch Desmo 450 MX racing in the FIM Flat Track World Championship for the first time, is one we were very keen to take, and we are delighted it has come to fruition along with the vital support from Dirt Store.

We know there is a great deal to learn when entering a new discipline, so to have the experience of Tim Neave on board is another huge positive and can only aid our development. We also want to help him achieve his own aspirations in what is a really competitive series.

Ashton Boughen has already shown his talent on a motorcycle in various disciplines, and whilst this will be a new challenge for him, we’re confident he will thrive in this environment, and we look forward to seeing him progress.

We’re hugely excited about the year ahead, and we can’t wait to present the new VRX Dirt Store Ducati Race Team at the opening round in Roden.

I would like to thank Ducati’s Paolo Ciabatti, Fabrizio Cazzoli and Sara Falzolgher for their trust and support in this new project.

Dan Giffard, Dirt Store Founder:

Dirt Store is one of the UK’s leading online off-road retailers. Originally launched in 2023, Dirt Store provides riders of all abilities with the latest and greatest off-road products. 

Founded by avid riders, Dan and Nick, Dirt Store’s overarching aim is to develop the off-road motorsports community and push the sport to new audiences. From the amateur levels, to the pinnacle of professional racing, Dirt Store has supported riders across various motocross, enduro and speedway events.

The partnership with VRX Dirt Store Ducati is the retailers first step into flat track racing, and the team at Dirt Store are excited to be branching out into another new discipline.

FIM FLAT TRACK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2026

Round 1 – Roden, Netherlands, May 9

Round 2 – Terenzano, Italy, May 30

Round 3 – Teterow, Germany, June 27

Round 4 – Donji Kraljevec, Croatia, July 4

Round 5 – Scheessel, Germany, August 22

Round 6 – King’s Lynn, UK, August 29

Round 7 – Vasad, Hungary, September 12

Round 8 – Pardubice, Czech Republic, October 3

Round 9 – Totoras, Argentina, October 24

Round 10 – Totoras, Argentina, October 25