Just two rounds into only his second season contesting the FIM Flat Track World Championship powered by Anlas, Kineo, Blackburst and HKC Koopmann, American idol Sammy Halbert has burst into the series lead with a polished performance at Meissen in Germany that saw him drop just one point in the Heats before racing to victory in the Grand Final.
While it was not the thirty-six-year-old’s first win in the championship – that came at the final round of 2023 in Morizes in France last October – it did catapult him to the top of the points table for the first time and he is not planning on relinquishing his hard-won lead any time soon.

“For sure the goal and plan is to win the championship,” he said. “Now that I have the points lead, I’m confident I can get it done as long as I don’t make any big mistakes and let my speed take me there. It won’t be easy as the competition level is even higher than last year, especially my team-mate Kevin [Corradetti] who is fast on the ovals, but the bikes from our VFR Racing team are the best in this series in my opinion.

“So if I do get it done it will feel that much better and rewarding, knowing it was quite a big challenge, especially coming to Europe and racing a style of tracks and series that’s so different from what I’m used to in America.”

No stranger to success on the other side of the Atlantic, Halbert is a former American Motorcyclist Association Grand National Champion and X-Games gold medallist, but when he describes shifting a large part of his racing focus to Europe as ‘quite a big challenge’ he is underplaying what it takes to succeed thousands of kilometres from home in a sport as notoriously tough as Flat Track where speeds are high and mistakes very rarely go unpunished.

“It feels really great to win the last round and finally take the lead in the championship. It’s a big job to come over from the States, so to cap that last trip off with a win and the points lead was just what I needed.

“Last year was a huge adjustment and overall, I really enjoy the experience. It’s sometimes challenging if I’m constantly in hotels and being a solo tourist so I try to avoid that, but as of now I don’t have much of a plan for the weeks between races. I will go to Norway between the next two rounds to teach a Flat Track school and I’m trying to do more of that, as I enjoy teaching my craft.”

Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Halbert knows all about life on the road and his US fans will still get to see him in selected rounds of the American Flat Track Championship, though no matter where he is when he straps on his steel shoe, he has found that one thing remains reassuringly familiar.

“I did notice last year that wherever you go in the world every Flat Track community is more or less like a family – good and bad, but overall very cool.”

Halbert’s 2024 FIM Flat Track World Championship campaign continues tomorrow (24 August) with round three staged at the Adrian Flux Arena in King’s Lynn, Great Britain, with the first Heat scheduled to get under way at 19:00 local time. For more information click here.