Italy’s Matteo Boncinelli took the 2022 season opener at the Rhein Main Arena in Diedenbergen to become the fifth different Final winner in seven FIM Flat Track World Championship events.
Boncinelli only made his debut in the series as a Wild Card for his home Round at Boves last season, but has capitalised on his experience in the Italian Moto3 Championship to make swift progress in the discipline. The 18-year-old certainly did things the hard way, qualifying sixth and running fifth in the early stages of the Final, before working his way progressively through the field to lead the last lap-and-a-half to the 25 Championship points.
With the winner of the first two FIM Flat Track World Championships Lasse Kurvinen - the Finn who also won the Final at Diedenbergen last year - now retired from FIM competition, we were assured of a new Championship leader. Kevin Corradetti - winner of the 2021 Czech Round and reigning silver medallist - was the favourite and he did little to dispel that notion during the qualifying stage with back-to-back victories in his opening outings Heats Four and Five. He led the Final too; lone Japanese representative Masatoshi Ohmori claimed the holeshot only for Corradetti to roar through by the end of the opening lap. But after losing the lead to Boncinelli on the penultimate lap he conceded another place on the final tour, with Gerard Bailo coming through for second.
Spain’s other principal challenger, Ferran Sastre, matched Bailo with two wins during the Heats but missed out on a podium place on his World Championship debut in fourth. Ohmori dropped behind him in the closing stages to record fifth, nonetheless his best effort yet in his third World Championship appearance.
It was a day to forget for Francesco Cecchini, six-times FIM World Cup winner and the most recent Final victor on his comeback from injury in Boves last October. A crash in Diedenbergen last year ended his 2021 title hopes, and he now has a colossal amount of work to do after the summer break in 2022 as well. Attempting to make an outside pass in Heat Ten he fell dramatically and dislocated his shoulder, forcing his withdrawal from the remainder of the meeting. With just a single dropped point from his opening two outings, Cecchini did enough to be classified 20th, but a single point will do little to improve his spirits after more misfortune in his third World Championship season.
It was also a disappointing day for 2021 bronze medallist Markus Jell. The German was runner-up at his home Round last year but started slowly in his opening two rides of 2022, only claiming his first victory in his fourth outing to make the Final. He was never really at the races from there, coming home ninth. Sébastien Jeanpierre was never out of the top seven in four Rounds last season but failed to make the Final altogether in the opening Round of 2022, losing out on the final bend of the Last Chance Qualifier to Daniele Tonelli who went on to finish eleventh in the Final.
The late inclusion of Diedenbergen on the calendar meant an earlier start to this 2022 campaign but the bulk of racing will take place after the summer months. Over little more than a month from 3rd September, the series will visit Morizès for the first French Round since the 2019 World Cup, then 2021 venues Pardubice, Debrecen and Boves to crown the third FIM Flat Track World Champion.
FIM Communications