Following a seven-week break in the action, the 2026 FIM Flat Track World Championship returns this coming Saturday (22 August) when round five is staged at Scheessel in Germany where British title contenders Tim Neave and Ashton Boughen – who race for the same VRX Dirt Store Ducati team – will start the afternoon programme tied on points at the top of the table.
  • German date for round five of 2026 FIM Flat Track World Championship
  • Tim Neave and Ashton Boughen lead British one-two into Scheessel’s Eichenring
  • Defending champion Ervin Krajčovič looks for his first win of the year

Scheessel is the halfway point in the extended ten-round championship and series newcomer Boughen is enjoying a sensational debut season, having won the opening two rounds in Roden and Terenzano and backed these up with a pair of solid performances at rounds three and four in Teterow and Donji Kraljevec.

Neave started more slowly with third at the opener and fifth at round two before taking back-to-back wins – the first two victories of his career – to tie with his team-mate on eighty-six points, thirteen clear of defending and two-time champion Ervin Krajčovič (KTM Schruf – Zucco Racing) from the Czech Republic.

Krajčovič first won the title in 2023 and after narrowly failing to defend it the following year he returned to the top in 2025 and the thirty-five-year-old has made a solid start to this season with a third-placed finish at round two and second last time out ensuring he remains in title contention – although he has more to worry about than simply the pair of British riders ahead of him.
Just a single point adrift of the Czech racer, Spain’s Gerard Bailo (Zaeta) was champion in 2022 and runner-up the following year and after two seasons without a top-three finish he started this year in fine form to take the second step on the podium at the first two rounds.

At one-thousand metres, Scheessel’s Eichenring is more than three times the length of Donji Kraljevec’s Stadion Milenium and has a reputation for staging spectacular racing with competitors able to utilise the top-end power of their highly-tuned machines.

Britain’s Jack Bell (Triumph) is enjoying his best-ever world championship form this season and currently sits fifth in the table having claimed a career-first podium last time out in Croatia where he was a fighting third. Just six points behind Bailo, he also has a relatively comfortable thirteen-point cushion over the Czech Republic’s Ondřej Svědík (KTM Schruf – Zucco Racing).

Last season’s bronze medallist, Svědík has been forced to use all his skills this year as he chases his first podium finish of the season and, just to add to the pressure he must be feeling, he has the 2024 champion Sammy Halbert (Picasso Engineering OMT Squadra Corse Italiana) – who was unbeaten at Scheessel last season – just four points adrift, despite sitting out the opening round before signing for the Swiss team.

With a stacked field of talented riders there are no shortage of podium contenders, including racers of the calibre of Frenchman Sébastien Jeanpierre, Italy’s Daniele Tonelli (TM – Donelli’s Garage), Stanislav Ohorodnik (Husqvarna) from the Ukraine and Britain’s Gary Birtwistle (Dirt Craft powered by Royal Enfield).

With its mix of established stars, fast-rising talent and series newcomers, the 2026 FIM Flat Track World Championship is taking shape to be one of the most exciting in the sport’s history and FIM-MOTO.TV will stream all rounds LIVE including behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and expert analysis.

For more details and to sign up click here.
The online reach will be extended by dedicated Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok channels where fans can interact with riders and like-minded enthusiasts. Please follow us!