The 2023 FIM Flat Track World Championship moves into the closing stages this coming Saturday (23 September) with the fourth Final of the season at Pardubice in the Czech Republic.
While it is still very tight at the top of the table following last Sunday’s Final in Boves in north-west Italy where the championship passed the halfway mark, despite missing the podium for the first time this season Ervin Krajčovič (KTM) has extended his lead to three points and will be hoping to take full advantage of passionate home support on Saturday.
Boves may very well have been a pivotal point in the championship chase with title contenders Matteo Boncinelli (GASGAS) from Italy failing to score and Final one winner Ondřej Svědík (Yamaha) from the Czech Republic getting eliminated in the Last Chance Qualifier. It is definitely not game over for the super-fast pair, but their finishes in Italy have dropped them down the standings as Spain’s reigning champion Gerard Bailo (KTM), Matias Lorenzato (Zaeta) from Argentina and awesome Australian Jarred Brook (Husqvarna) all moved up.
With the ultimate aim of becoming the first Czech rider to win the FIM Flat Track World Championship, Krajčovič has run two-three-six so far this season while his rivals have struggled with consistency.
The best of the rest, Bailo finished seventh at Boves to go with fourth at the first Final in Great Britain which he backed up with second at Debrecen in Hungary earlier this month. He now lies second with a four-point cushion over Lorenzato who kicked off his campaign with back-to-back sevenths before chasing home wild card Elia Bartolini (Yamaha) in second last time out.
Svědík is ten points adrift of his championship-leading compatriot in fourth, tied with Brook who is only now starting to post results that truly reflect his speed. A fighting fifth in rain-hit conditions in Manchester at the start of August, Brook was forced to retire from the Grand Final at Debrecen after dropping just a single point through the Heat races, although third in Boves was a real shot in the arm for the first Australian racer ever to compete in the FIM Flat Track World Championship.
Another racer making his championship debut, ‘Slammin’ Sammy Halbert (GASGAS) has an extremely impressive racing résumé that includes an American Motorcyclist Association Grand National Championship and X-Games gold medal and it has been a challenging first full season in Europe for the hard-charging American who recently celebrated his thirty-sixth birthday.
Starting the championship with an impressive third-place finish in Manchester, he was disqualified from the Grand Finals in Debrecen and Boves and currently lies sixth in the points, one position ahead of Boncinelli, so will have a point to prove on Saturday.
Racing in the Stadion Pardubice – Svítkov is scheduled to get under way with the opening Heat at 13:00 local time.