FIM FLAT TRACK WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 5 PREVIEW - SCHEESSEL

Image Courtesy of Jesper Veldhuizen

The 2026 FIM Flat Track World Championship reaches the halfway stage this weekend with VRX Dirt Store Ducati Race Team looking to build on their remarkable season so far.

With four of the ten rounds completed, riders Tim Neave and Ashton Boughen head to German venue Scheessel level on points at the top of the standings, having shared the individual meeting victories equally between them.

Series newcomer Boughen enjoyed an incredible introduction by winning the opening two rounds at Roden and Terenzano, before team-mate Neave responded with victories in Teterow and Donji Kraljevec to add to the third place he recorded in Round 1 which officially makes him championship leader on countback.

Boughen has secured the additional point for fastest lap in the Final on three occasions, and it means the Ducati duo both have 86 points, and a 13-point advantage over defending champion Ervin Krajcovic, who finished second in Croatia.

The other two riders in title contention at this stage are 2022 World Champion Gerard Bailo who is a further point adrift having been runner-up in the first two rounds before losing ground last time out, and a third British rider Jack Bell, who is now on 66 points after making the podium in the last round.

The Scheessel track is on the schedule for a second season running as part of a festival of weekend motorsport which also sees the venue host the FIM World Long Track Championship on Sunday.

At a massive 1,000 metres in length, it is easily the biggest circuit on the schedule and one where engine performance and top-end power will be an important factor.

It also means a change to the established format as for tracks over 600m, the qualifying heats are staged over six laps rather than eight, and the Final comprises ten laps rather than 12.

Last year’s meeting was dominated by American racer Sammy Halbert, who scored a maximum 28 points in the qualifiers and went on to win the Final ahead of Kevin Coradetti.

But it was also a strong showing from Neave, who scored 26 and dropped his only points to Halbert and Coradetti, before finishing behind them in the Final to take the last place on the podium.

The meeting marks the start of a crucial period in the title chase with events on back-to-back weekends, as Round 6 takes place at King’s Lynn on August 29, with Hungarian venue Vasad coming up a fortnight after that.

VRX Dirt Store Ducati MD Rob Painter said: “We’ve been busy as a team behind the scenes since the last round, I would have liked to get out on track more but unfortunately tracks in Italy have been unavailable but the riders have both been out recently which is good. “Tim won the third round of the ACU British Championship at Leicester last weekend, so he’s leading that series, whilst Ashton travelled back to Roden in the Netherlands for a test session.

“We believe Scheessel should be a good venue for us, but of course we won’t know for sure until we get going, on what is a specialist circuit. We’re optimistic of another good showing.”

Saturday’s meeting at Scheessel can be viewed free of charge via FIM Moto TV at https://fim-moto.tv with Heat 1 getting underway at 2pm local time (1pm BST).