GARCIA GOES 1-1 IN UDDEVALLA TO STRETCH HIS EMX250 LEAD

Francisco Garcia was back on the gate at Glimminge Motorstadion after sitting out the previous round with a knee injury, and he answered with a perfect weekend. The Spaniard won both races at round 10 of the EMX250 European Championship on the oldest circuit on the calendar to take his sixth overall win of the season.

Joe Brookes and Francesco Bellei joined him on the box; the pair tied on 38 points with Brookes taking second on his better race two result. Jake Cannon made up for a Saturday ruined by a first-lap crash with a runner-up finish in race two, while Nicolai Skovbjerg was left to recover from a poor start in each race. Garcia leaves Sweden 87 points clear at the top of the standings.

EMX250 Start Uddevalla 2026

Francisco Garcia wasted no time making up for his enforced weekend off. The Spaniard swept into the lead on the Venum BUD Racing Kawasaki and was straight to the front when it mattered, with Cat Moto Bauerschmidt KTM’s Francesco Bellei slotting into second and Nicolò Alvisi, on the Maddii Racing Team Honda, into third. Behind them a pile-up in the first couple of corners shuffled the pack, and Cannon was among those caught up in trouble on the opening lap.

Brookes was the first to make progress, coming through on Alvisi for third before the end of lap one, and Sebastian Leok of MX-Handel Husqvarna Racing followed him past the Italian for fourth. Alvisi began to slip backwards and would eventually finish seventh, while Leok’s afternoon ended with a crash from fourth place that he was unable to recover from. That left the door open for SixtySeven Racing-Team’s Nicolai Skovbjerg, who had gone through the opening lap back in eighth and spent the first half of the race working his way forward.

Garcia’s advantage was comfortable until he went down late on, and with a couple of laps remaining Skovbjerg was close enough to attack. The Dane passed Brookes for third and then took second from Bellei a few corners later, but he had left himself too much to do. Garcia held on for his 14th race win of the season, with Bellei third and Brookes fourth. Byron Dennis rounded out the top five for Cat Moto Bauerschmidt KTM on his first EMX250 race, ahead of Team VHR Racing’s Tom Brunet, Alvisi, Young Motion powered by Resa’s Alve Callemo, Laban Alm and Simone Mancini of the Beddini Racing Ducati Factory MX2 Team, the Italian classified tenth after a two-position penalty for failing post-race noise control.

Race two brought a lightning start from Cannon, making amends for the opening-lap crash that had wrecked his Saturday. The Australian led into the first turn with his Venum BUD Racing Kawasaki teammate Garcia alongside him, Bellei and Brookes to the outside and Dennis and Leok just behind. Garcia found his way past Cannon on the first long downhill and immediately put a couple of seconds between them.

Brookes was in no mood to hang around and came through on Cannon before the end of the opening lap to take second, holding the place for the next ten laps. Dennis went up the inside of Leok and then took fifth from Brunet, who faded to tenth by the flag. Skovbjerg was recovering from another poor start, working forward from around 13th place on the opening lap and finally getting past Leok on lap 11 for sixth, by which point Bellei and Dennis were long gone.

After three or four attempts Cannon finally got up the inside of Brookes on lap 12 to take second, but Garcia was out of sight and cruised to the flag for his 15th race win of the season. Bellei came home fourth ahead of Dennis, Skovbjerg, Leok, his Cat Moto Bauerschmidt KTM teammate Mads Fredsoe, the RFME Spain National Team’s Adria Monne and Brunet.

The 1-1, Garcia’s sixth of the year, handed him the overall on 50 points from Brookes and Bellei, who tied on 38 with Brookes taking second on his better race two result. It was Garcia’s sixth overall win of the season and moved him 87 points clear of Skovbjerg with two rounds and 100 points still to play for, starting in Arnhem.

Francisco Garcia: “I didn’t expect anything. I only expected to come here and take some points, but I was so good at the start. I took two good starts and after that I took the lead and just rode on my own. I don’t know how many points I have now, but we go to Arnhem with a good gap, so we will see about the championship there. I am happy with all my team and with my family, who support me in the bad moments. Thank you to everyone.”

Joe Brookes: “It was really good. In the first race I was third and trying to have a go at second, and it was difficult out there. We were doing the same lines and I couldn’t find anything different to make the pass, and then in the last lap or two I got passed for fourth. The second race was good. It tightened up and I got a bit of arm pump in that one. But overall I’m super happy to get on the podium again and to keep it rolling for the last two rounds.”

Francesco Bellei: “I’m really happy. Back-to-back podiums feels good, especially because I have come from a bad season, I can say. I had an injury, but we look forward. I had a nice weekend with two almost holeshots. In the first race I got a good start, then I struggled a bit in the first corner. I was second until near the end and then Nicolai passed me, but it was still good. P3 in my first year on a 250 is good. In the second race, almost a holeshot again, then some guys passed me in the first two corners and I managed to finish P4 and P3 overall. I’m really happy and looking forward to Arnhem.”

1. Joe Brookes; 2. Francesco Bellei

EMX250 – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Francisco Garcia (ESP, Kawasaki), 29:14.781; 2. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:03.007; 3. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), +0:04.460; 4. Joe Brookes (GBR, Honda), +0:05.310; 5. Byron Dennis (AUS, KTM), +0:19.035; 6. Tom Brunet (FRA, Yamaha), +0:27.469; 7. Nicolò Alvisi (ITA, Honda), +0:29.176; 8. Alve Callemo (SWE, Husqvarna), +0:38.896; 9. Laban Alm (SWE, Husqvarna), +0:43.491; 10. Simone Mancini (ITA, Ducati), +0:30.587

EMX250 – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Francisco Garcia (ESP, Kawasaki), 29:12.052; 2. Jake Cannon (AUS, Kawasaki), +0:01.378; 3. Joe Brookes (GBR, Honda), +0:07.077; 4. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), +0:12.707; 5. Byron Dennis (AUS, KTM), +0:14.837; 6. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:20.232; 7. Sebastian Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +0:31.550; 8. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), +0:33.600; 9. Adria Monne (ESP, GASGAS), +0:34.302; 10. Tom Brunet (FRA, Yamaha), +0:35.710

EMX250 Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Francisco Garcia (ESP, KAW), 50 points; 2. Joe Brookes (GBR, HON), 38 p.; 3. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), 38 p.; 4. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, HUS), 37 p.; 5. Byron Dennis (AUS, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Jake Cannon (AUS, KAW), 30 p.; 7. Tom Brunet (FRA, YAM), 26 p.; 8. Adria Monne (ESP, GAS), 22 p.; 9. Simone Mancini (ITA, DUC), 21 p.; 10. Alve Callemo (SWE, HUS), 20 p.

EMX250 Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Francisco Garcia (ESP, KAW), 402 points; 2. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, HUS), 315 p.; 3. Jake Cannon (AUS, KAW), 288 p.; 4. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 238 p.; 5. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), 224 p.; 6. Nicolò Alvisi (ITA, HON), 199 p.; 7. Tom Brunet (FRA, YAM), 177 p.; 8. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), 160 p.; 9. Liam Owens (AUS, KTM), 152 p.; 10. Jekabs Kubulins (LAT, YAM), 149 p.

EMX250 Manufacturers – Top 10 Classification: 1. Kawasaki, 443 points; 2. KTM, 389 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 321 p.; 4. Yamaha, 285 p.; 5. Honda, 246 p.; 6. Triumph, 170 p.; 7. Ducati, 142 p.; 8. GASGAS, 140 p.; 9. Beta, 128 p.; 10. Fantic, 11 p.

EMX250 Podium Sweden 2026