Ducati make it one-two in Hungary

Ashton Boughen led a first-ever Ducati one-two in the seventh round of the FIM Flat Track World Championship at Vasad on Saturday.

Boughen and his VRX Dirt Store Ducati Race Team colleague Tim Neave staged a sensational battle in the Final at the Hungarian venue with Boughen coming through on the last lap for his third victory of the season.

The youngster banked the maximum 26 points from the event after also picking up the point for fastest lap, and it was also a positive day for Neave who has extended his overall series advantage.

Heading to Hungary with a nine-point advantage over Jack Bell, Neave now leads Boughen and Bell by 13 points with three rounds remaining, and the World Champion looks likely to come from those three riders as Gerard Bailo and Ervin Krajcovic are now both 30 points off Neave’s total.

Boughen was keen to fight back from his setbacks at King’s Lynn a fortnight ago, and he was quick off the mark in Vasad with an impressive ride to pass Krajcovic in Heat 1.

Neave opened up with a second place behind Ondrej Svedik in Heat 3 as Bell was disqualified, and when the Ducati riders went head to head for the first time in Heat 6 it was Neave who defeated Boughen to leave both on 13 points.

They were on track together again in Heat 9 but this time Boughen was coming from the back row in a strong race, so whilst Neave took another win Boughen had to be content for two points for fifth place.

However, he ensured a front row start in the Final with a win over Tom Hunt in Heat 10, and Neave’s victory over Bell in Heat 12 was significant as it kept Bell off the front row for the decisive race

With first selection of start in the Final, Neave went for position two and with KTM duo Svedik (five) and Krajcovic (three) electing for more outer positions, Boughen selected the inside to leave the Ducati riders alongside each other on the grid.

Boughen made a slightly better start than Neave but Krajcovic was fastest of all and he led into the first bend, only for a tight line by Neave to work superbly as he hit the front and Boughen also went inside the defending champion off turn two. The Ducati riders were then never threatened as they entered into a thrilling high-speed battle with Neave holding a narrow advantage and Boughen exploring every line in a bid to pass.

Boughen waited until the last lap before fully showing his hand as he took the outside on the back straight to go past Neave, who fought back strongly on the inside and reclaimed the advantage on the apex of turns three and four. However, Boughen had read the move and turned back smartly to get past Neave once more, and he won the race to the finish line by just 0.166s.

Behind them, the Ducati riders were handed a favour in the title race as Hunt worked his way into third place to take points off the other contenders, with Bell finishing fourth, Krajcovic sixth and Bailo dropped to ninth.

Ashton Boughen
“I’m feeling lots of excitement, and I’m just pleased to show what I can do again. I saved myself the whole time, not pushing too hard, and I knew I was the fastest out there and I showed it in that last one. I tried my hardest and pushed all the way.

It’s a very important result. I had a few not so good ones but I still showed what I could do at Scheessel, I won my first four heats but just didn’t get there in the Final, and the Final is what matters. It’s my third win, and I’ve surprised myself. I’ve just got to keep pushing for that World Championship.”

The final European round of the series takes place at Czech Republic venue Pardubice on October 3, before the double-header finale in Argentina on October 24/25.