FIM FLAT TRACK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 4 PREVIEW - DONJI KRALJEVEC

Image Courtesy of Jesper Veldhuizen

VRX Dirt Store Ducati Race Team head to Croatia this weekend looking to further strengthen their position in the FIM Flat Track World Championship heading into the mid-season break.

The Donji Kraljevec (Gorican) venue stages the fourth of the ten-round series on Saturday, forming the second half of a hectic back-to-back schedule which started in Germany at Teterow last weekend.

There is then a seven-week gap in the calendar enabling riders and teams to refocus for the run-in, and the VRX operation want to sign off until late summer with their Championship advantage intact.

They have won all three rounds so far, all of which have provided dramatic stories with youngster Ashton Boughen making a sensational early impact to register a debut win for Ducati at Roden, and then following up with another success at Terenzano.

Not to be outdone, Boughen’s team-mate Tim Neave then registered his long-awaited first win in the series with his victory in Round 3 at Teterow.

With Boughen finishing a solid fourth in that meeting, it means he holds a nine-point advantage in the overall standings as he sits on 70 points, with Neave and 2022 World Champion Gerard Bailo his nearest challengers on 61, ten clear of defending Champion Ervin Krajcovic on 51.

Meanwhile Ducati top the manufacturer’s standings with a maximum 75 points from three rounds, 11 clear of Zaeta.

Krajcovic has managed just one podium finish so far this season but he may take some comfort from the fact that he was the winner in Croatia last year ahead of Daniele Tonelli and Ondrej Svedik, both of whom are outside the current top five in 2026. That meeting, though, proved a painful one for Neave as he delivered a near-perfect performance in the heats to finish joint top of the scoreboard, only to be ruled out of the re-start in the Final due to injury after a clash with Sammy Halbert.

The action in Croatia takes place at an established speedway venue which until recently was the host of Grand Prix events, and is also a popular setting for pre-season testing.

VRX Management Ltd MD Rob Painter said: “Heading into Croatia we’ll be focusing on consistency. We want the riders to keep honing their routines and really concentrating on the controllables.

“We expect the track to suit both our guys, and it will be well prepared as the team there do a great job and have excellent machinery. “We have seven weeks until the next round after Croatia so it would be good to go into that break holding the top two positions, and then we have some testing scheduled before Scheessel in Germany which I’m really looking forward to.”

The Flat Track meeting is part of a busy programme of activities with the FIM Women’s Speedway World Cup and Gold Trophy also taking place on Saturday.

Flat Track racing gets underway at 7pm BST and live streaming will be available from https://fim-moto.tv/ .