The 2025 FIM Flat Track World Championship powered by HKC Koopmann, Anlas, Kineo and Blackburst reaches the halfway mark this coming Saturday (12 July) when round three is staged at Donji Kraljevec in Croatia, marking the series’ historic first visit to the country.
  • FIM Flat Track World Championship makes historic debut in Croatia
  • Former champion Ervin Krajčovič defends slim lead at Donji Kraljevec
  • Just three points separate top three riders as tension mounts

With just three points covering the first three positions it is incredibly close at the top of the standings where 2023 champion Ervin Krajčovič (KTM) from the Czech Republic leads his compatriot Ondřej Švédík (KTM) by two with the USA’s defending champion Sammy Halbert another point further back following opening rounds in Italy and Germany.

Krajčovič gained an early advantage at the end of May at Terenzano in north-east Italy where, despite falling during the Heat races, he took victory in the Grand Final and was joined on the podium by home favourite Daniele Tonelli (TM) and Švédík when the race was red-flagged after ten laps following a crash.

Halbert had looked in dominant form during the Heats, but he was penalised after being adjudged to have caused a false start in the Grand Final and could only fight his way back to fifth after starting at the rear of the twelve-rider grid.

After finishing off the podium for the first time since September 2023, the thirty-seven-year-old former American Motorcyclist Association Grand National Champion struck back with a powerful performance at Meissen in Germany in mid-June.

A technical issue left him pointless following his first Heat, but he still comfortably made the cut for the Grand Final where he collected the maximum twenty-five points up for grabs as well as the new-for-2025 bonus point for posting the fastest lap in the Grand Final. The result moved him to third in the standings as he closed in on the Czech pair who joined him on the Meissen podium with Švédík second from Krajčovič.

 Following a career-best finish at the opening round, Tonelli kept the pressure on the leaders with a fighting fifth behind Britain’s Tim Neave (Yamaha) that has left him just four points behind Halbert and very much in contention.

After a solid if unspectacular 2024 season, 2022 champion and 2023 vice-champion Gerard Bailo (Zaeta) from Spain sits fifth with four-seven finishes from the opening two rounds. The thirty-year-old from Barcelona is thirteen points behind Krajčovič and has not been on the podium since round two in 2023, an issue he needs to urgently address if he is to remain in contention when the series concludes in September.

While the current top five are unquestionably the riders displaying the best early-season form, they are by no means the only podium contenders in Croatia.

Neave, whose twin brother Tom will compete as a wildcard at Donji Kraljevec, just missed out on an FIM bronze medal last season and the pressure is off the thirty-year-old after a mechanical problem restricted him to just a single point and twentieth position in Terenzano.

Still just twenty-two years old, Italy’s Kevin Corradetti (Yamaha) was vice-champion in 2021 and after finishing ninth in Meissen will be looking to climb the leaderboard and, at the other end of the age spectrum, veteran German Markus Jell (KTM) won an FIM bronze medal the same year.

Argentina’s Santiago Arangio (Yamaha) has also started the season showing solid form and will be keen to build on his pair of eighth-placed finishes at the opening two rounds that see him currently sitting in sixth.

The action from Donji Kraljevec is scheduled to get under way at 19:45 (local time).
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