Tim Neave led another strong British performance in Pardubice, finishing second to extend his 2026 FIM Flat Track World Championship advantage to nineteen points. Ashton Boughen and Jack Bell remain second and third in the standings, giving Britain control of the championship’s top three places with two rounds remaining.
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Tim Neave takes second in Pardubice and extends his title lead to nineteen points · Ashton Boughen and Jack Bell keep British riders first, second and third in the championship
· Gary Birtwistle and Tom Hunt underline the depth of the British challenge
Tim Neave (VRX Power Maxed Dirt Store Ducati) delivered another important result in his pursuit of the 2026 FIM Flat Track World Championship, taking second place at the Speedway Stadium Pardubice and increasing his lead to nineteen points with two rounds remaining.
The British challenge remained strong throughout round eight. Championship rookie Ashton Boughen, winner of the opening two rounds, finished fifth in the Final, while Jack Bell (Triumph) came home tenth. Those results kept Neave, Boughen and Bell first, second and third respectively in the championship standings ahead of the season-ending trip to Argentina.
Home rider Ondřej Svědík (KTM Schruf – Zucco Racing) took an emotional victory and an additional point for the fastest lap. The result marked his second top-flight win after his breakthrough at the start of the 2023 season and followed a career-best championship bronze last year.
Neave’s afternoon began with a fall in the opening eight-lap Heat, but he recovered through two restarts to finish third behind Bell and Spain’s Gerard Bailo (Zaeta). Boughen opened his campaign with second place behind defending champion Ervin Krajčovič, while Germany’s Marius Kircher (KTM) won the third Heat.
Neave then moved to the front in the second block, beating Kircher and 2022 champion Bailo. Svědík claimed his first win of the afternoon in the same block, with Bell second and Boughen third.
Boughen took maximum points in his third Heat ahead of Italy’s Daniele Tonelli (TM – Donelli’s Garage) and Bell. Svědík followed with his second consecutive victory, before Neave secured another win ahead of Czech racer Daniel Mandys (Yamaha).
The final block of Heats brought further British success. Gary Birtwistle (Dirt Craft Powered by Royal Enfield) finished second to Svědík, with Boughen fourth, before Neave made it three straight Heat wins by defeating Kircher and Bell.
With the top ten progressing automatically to the twelve-lap Final, Britain’s Tom Hunt (Beta – OMT Squadra Corse Italiana) joined the field by taking one of the two qualifying places from the five-lap Last Chance Heat.
In the Final, Krajčovič led initially with Svědík close behind, but the race was stopped on lap three after Tonelli fell. On the first restart, Svědík moved ahead and Neave worked his way into second before another fall brought out the red flags once more.
From the second restart, Svědík controlled the remaining three laps. Boughen surged from fourth to second with a quick move, but ran wide and slipped back behind Neave and Kircher. Neave held firm to secure the runner-up spot, with Kircher third, Krajčovič fourth and Boughen fifth.
Bell’s tenth-place finish cost him points to the leading pair, but the top three championship positions remain in British hands. Neave now takes a nineteen-point lead over Boughen into the decisive final weekend, with Bell third.
The 2026 FIM Flat Track World Championship concludes on 24-25 October with back-to-back rounds in Totoras, Argentina, as the series leaves Europe for the first time.