ARNHEM (Netherlands) 23 August 2026 – The Dutch sand crowned a champion at the penultimate round of the EMX250 European Championship, as Venum BUD Racing Kawasaki’s Francisco Garcia wrapped up the 2026 title with a round to spare. The weekend on the track, though, belonged to Nicolai Skovbjerg of SixtySeven Racing-Team, who beat the new champion twice in two bruising duels to take a maiden 1-1 in front of a packed Arnhem crowd.

Garcia arrived in Arnhem 87 points clear of Skovbjerg with only 100 still on the table, and needed nothing more than to keep his rival in sight. Second place in the opening race was enough: the gap stretched to 84 points with 75 remaining, confirming the Spaniard as 2026 EMX250 European Champion. Fifteen race wins before the weekend had long since turned the title into a question of when rather than if.

It was Team VHR Racing’s Tom Brunet who led the field through the opening turn, with Jarne Bervoets of Team VHR Yamaha Official and wildcard rider Levi Townley, riding for Yamaha Europe Monster Energy MJC, for company. Garcia wasted no time, muscling past the young Kiwi and then Bervoets to take second before the end of the opening lap, while Joe Brookes ran fourth and picked off Cat Moto Bauerschmidt KTM’s Mads Fredsoe as the front group settled.

Garcia’s afternoon was anything but straightforward. The Spaniard went down while challenging Brunet for the lead, remounting without dropping a place, and was fortunate to avoid a second incident when Bervoets had to grab a handful of brake to miss him. He recovered to take the lead from Brunet just past a third distance and began to edge clear.

The only rider who could still deny him was Skovbjerg, and the Dane was on a mission. Down in twelfth through the first turn, he carved his way past Fredsoe and then Brunet into second and closed in on the leader. With three laps to go he lined up a move around the outside; Garcia moved to defend, and both riders hit the deck. Skovbjerg was first back on his bike and rode away to win by a comfortable 9 seconds. his fourth race victory of the season; having also set the fastest lap of the race, a 1:50.120.

Garcia picked himself up to take second, and with it the championship. Brunet completed the podium in third, ahead of a season-best fourth for Fredsoe’s Cat Moto Bauerschmidt KTM team-mate Byron Dennis, with Fredsoe himself fifth. William Askew of Dirt Store Triumph Racing, Venum BUD Racing Kawasaki’s Jake Cannon and Sebastian Leok of MX-Handel Husqvarna Racing followed, while Francesco Bellei, also riding for Cat Moto Bauerschmidt KTM, snatched ninth from Gyan Doensen of GABRIEL SS24 KTM Factory Juniors on the very last lap. Mano Faure of Team VHR Yamaha Official came through to eleventh at the expense of team-mate Bervoets, who slipped from an early third to twelfth. Beddini Racing Ducati Factory MX2 Team’s Simone Mancini, Lyonel Reichl of KTM Sarholz Racing Team and Senna Van Voorst did not take the start.

Skovbjerg answered on Sunday morning with a rare holeshot, leading Leok and Garcia out of the first turn. The new champion did not hang about, diving up the inside of Leok and then going straight after the Dane; by the fourth corner it was Garcia in front. He set the fastest lap of the race on the opening tour, a 1:50.628, as he tried to break the elastic.

Leok’s morning unravelled on lap five, a fall dropping him from third to eighth and handing the places to the Cat Moto Bauerschmidt KTM pair of Mads Fredsoe and Byron Dennis. The team-mates then swapped blows over the final podium position, Dennis coming out on top from lap eight onwards. Gyan Doensen was the man on the move, carving up to fifth before stalling his machine and dropping to twelfth, only to fight all the way back to sixth.

At the front it turned into cat and mouse. Skovbjerg kept Garcia within range and, with three laps to run, swept around the outside to retake the lead. Garcia had another moment later on the same lap, and out of the final turn it was the Dane who hung on to win by 2.202 seconds – his fifth race win of the season.

Garcia’s 2-2 gave him second overall behind Skovbjerg’s perfect score, with Dennis climbing onto the overall podium in third. Fredsoe was fourth overall ahead of Leok and Askew. For Skovbjerg it was a third overall victory of the season and a fourth overall podium, and the first 1-1 of his EMX career. Brunet, third in Race 1, retired from the secondrace. The championship now heads to Türkiye in a fortnight with the runner-up spot already settled in Skovbjerg’s favour and Cannon holding a 50-point buffer over Doensen in the fight for third.

For Francisco Garcia, the title caps a season of near-total dominance. The Spaniard has won six overalls from the eleven rounds run so far, and every single one of them was a 1-1; fifteen race victories in total. Added to the three overalls he took last year, that puts him on nine, more than any  other rider in the history of the EMX250 class… impressive!

Nicolai Skovbjerg: « A little dirty racing, I would say, but I did what I could. I kept my head down and just focused on going forward. And finally a good start – the team has been working really hard on this. We spent the whole of Friday evening, from five until seven, doing starts and trying to figure something out. When it comes together like this, it’s nice. »

Francisco Garcia: « Yesterday I was a little bit disappointed because I made a mistake out on the track, but that is not the problem. Today I felt a little bit better, also with the championship in the pocket. »

Byron Dennis: « That was a goodrace, and the one yesterday was unreal. I’ve just got to give thanks to the whole team for giving me this opportunity, and to the team back home for letting me come and do it. To see people here supporting me, coming over – it’s unreal. Europe has been an eye-opener, but it’s been good and I’m looking forward to doing a few more and getting after it. »

EMX250 – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, Husqvarna), 30:47.784; 2. Francisco Garcia (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:09.041; 3. Tom Brunet (FRA, Yamaha), +0:10.796; 4. Byron Dennis (AUS, KTM), +0:21.759; 5. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), +0:32.652; 6. William Askew (GBR, Triumph), +0:34.733; 7. Jake Cannon (AUS, Kawasaki), +0:37.339; 8. Sebastian Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +0:39.069; 9. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), +0:51.200; 10. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), +0:54.094

EMX250 – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, Husqvarna), 28:54.453; 2. Francisco Garcia (ESP, Kawasaki), +0:02.202; 3. Byron Dennis (AUS, KTM), +0:20.466; 4. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), +0:32.138; 5. Sebastian Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +0:53.341; 6. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), +0:55.731; 7. Jekabs Kubulins (LAT, Yamaha), +0:58.226; 8. William Askew (GBR, Triumph), +1:04.867; 9. Jake Cannon (AUS, Kawasaki), +1:06.180; 10. Jarne Bervoets (BEL, Yamaha), +1:06.923

EMX250 Overall – Top 10: 1. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, HUS), 50 points; 2. Francisco Garcia (ESP, KAW), 44 p.; 3. Byron Dennis (AUS, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), 34 p.; 5. Sebastian Leok (EST, HUS), 29 p.; 6. William Askew (GBR, TRI), 28 p.; 7. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 26 p.; 8. Jake Cannon (AUS, KAW), 26 p.; 9. Jekabs Kubulins (LAT, YAM), 21 p.; 10. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), 21 p.

EMX250 Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Francisco Garcia (ESP, KAW), 446 points; 2. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, HUS), 365 p.; 3. Jake Cannon (AUS, KAW), 314 p.; 4. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 264 p.; 5. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), 258 p.; 6. Nicolò Alvisi (ITA, HON), 217 p.; 7. Tom Brunet (FRA, YAM), 197 p.; 8. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), 181 p.; 9. Jekabs Kubulins (LAT, YAM), 170 p.; 10. William Askew (GBR, TRI), 155 p.

EMX250 Manufacturers – Top 10 Classification: 1. Kawasaki, 487 points; 2. KTM, 427 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 371 p.; 4. Yamaha, 319 p.; 5. Honda, 264 p.; 6. Triumph, 198 p.; 7. GASGAS, 152 p.; 8. Ducati, 142 p.; 9. Beta, 128 p.; 10. Fantic, 11 p.