The sun-baked hills of Agueda delivered two days of relentless action as the FIM Europe EMX250 and EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing Championships rolled into Portugal for round eight and round seven respectively. In hot, sunny and near-perfect conditions, both classes served up dominant front-running, hard racing and a title picture that shifted on the final day.
In EMX250, Venum BUD Racing Kawasaki’s Francisco Garcia was simply untouchable. The Spaniard swept both races for a third overall victory of the season and stretched his championship lead to a commanding 104 points over teammate Jake Cannon. Joe Brookes celebrated a maiden EMX250 podium in second overall, with Maddii Racing Honda’s Elias Escandell completing the podium in third.
In EMX125, Norman KTM Factory Rookies’ Ricardo Bauer turned the title race on its head. A second-race win sealed the overall ahead of Yamaha Europe Monster Energy MJC’s Sleny Goyer and Fantic Factory Racing EMXs Bertram Thorius, and with championship leader and teammate Moritz Ernecker enduring a nightmare Sunday, Bauer slashed the gap at the top of the standings to just 19 points.
EMX250 Start Portugal 2026
Round 8 of the EMX250 European Championship roared into life from the gate at a sun-baked Agueda. Gyan Doensen on the GABRIEL SS24 KTM Factory Juniors machine looked to have stolen the holeshot from the inside, but it was Francisco Garcia who powered over the top of the hill in front and quickly brok away from the field, with Elias Escandell tucking into second. Doensen was shuffled back to third, while Joe Brookes made a strong getaway in fourth. SixtySeven Racing-Team’s Nicolai Skovbjerg slipped to sixth in the early scramble after Beddini Racing Ducati Factory MX2 Team’s Simone Mancini got the better of him.
Brookes was quickly on the move, picking off Doensen for third over the crest, before Mancini also demoted the Dutchman to climb into fourth on the second lap. Doensen’s afternoon would steadily unravel from there, eventually crossing the line seventh. The biggest charge came from Skovbjerg, who recovered from his early setback to outsmart Doensen, then reel in and pass Mancini and Brookes for third, before hunting down Escandell for second. Escandell had earlier muscled his way past Brookes in a race-long battle. Venum BUD Racing Kawasaki rider Jake Cannon’s day ended in the gravel, the Australian crashing out of tenth and recovering to thirteenth.
Out front there was no catching Garcia. The Spaniard controlled all 15 laps to take another commanding victory and set the fastest lap of the race and winning by 29 seconds over Skovbjerg, Escandell, Brookes and Mancini. Cat Moto Bauerschmidt KTM’s Mads Fredsoe, Doensen and MX-Handel Husqvarna Racing’s Sebastian Leok completed the top eight.
Race 2 opened with a flying getaway from Doensen, who grabbed the holeshot and led down the first hill, with race-one winner and championship leader Garcia slotting straight into second and Venrooy KTM Racing’s Áron Katona also start well, just behind them. Behind the trio, Escandell and Fredsoe fired off cracking starts to run at the sharp end. Garcia wasted little time, passing Doensen on the opening lap, and Katona pounced on the increasingly nervous Dutchman soon after to move into second. Brookes, fourth in Race 1, had it all to do from around eleventh.
Doensen, now riding defensively, was steadily swallowed up: Escandell slipped underneath the KTM into third, and Brookes carved through the order, latching onto Escandell’s rear wheel before taking the place to climb into third himself. Further back, the championship’s chief protagonists were charging after poor starts; Cannon got away badly and Skovbjerg even worse, leaving both a long way behind Garcia, but the pair recovered superbly to reach the top eight inside the closing five minutes, Cannon eventually picking off Fredsoe for fifth.
There was no catching Garcia, who once again controlled proceedings and set the fastest lap on his way to a second win of the weekend. Katona held on for second, with Brookes finishing third. The Briton fighting valiantly for what he could celebrate as his first EMX250 podium. Fredsoe took sixth ahead of the recovering Skovbjerg, with Leok and Mancini rounding out the top nine.
The perfect 25-25 scorecard handed Francisco Garcia a fifth overall victory of the season, ahead of Joe Brookes (4-3) and Elias Escandell (3-4); the pair tied on 38 points, with Brookes taking the runner-up step on his stronger Race 2. Garcia, roared on by his army of home-region fans, stretched his championship lead to 104 points over teammate Jake Cannon. By the series’ own tally it was his 13th race win of the season and seventh in succession.
Francisco Garcia: “I train every day to be the best version of myself and to not be tired in the race. I work so hard with my trainer and my team to be able to do this, and this is only the beginning. I’m already focusing on next year too, so we’ll see what happens.”
Joe Brookes: “It was really good. I didn’t get the best start and got pinched at the gate, but I managed to come through well in the first couple of minutes. I made some aggressive passes, I really enjoyed the track and found some good lines, and I felt good.”
Elias Escandell: “I started well in both races. Both were tough because this is only my second weekend back after my injuries, so it was really hard. But we finally found the podium; a good third, and I’ll go for more.”
1. Joe Brooks; 2. Elias Escandell
EMX250 — Race 1 — Top 10 Classification: 1. Francisco Garcia (ESP, Kawasaki), 29:05.947; 2. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:26.022; 3. Elias Escandell (ESP, Honda), +0:33.005; 4. Joe Brookes (GBR, Honda), +0:35.335; 5. Simone Mancini (ITA, Ducati), +0:36.119; 6. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), +0:37.213; 7. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), +0:44.859; 8. Sebastian Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +0:47.693; 9. Nicolò Alvisi (ITA, Honda), +0:49.482; 10. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), +0:50.389
EMX250 — Race 2 — Top 10 Classification: 1. Francisco Garcia (ESP, Kawasaki), 29:14.439; 2. Áron Katona (HUN, KTM), +0:13.890; 3. Joe Brookes (GBR, Honda), +0:19.866; 4. Elias Escandell (ESP, Honda), +0:23.177; 5. Jake Cannon (AUS, Kawasaki), +0:24.837; 6. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), +0:26.398; 7. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:28.989; 8. Sebastian Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +0:30.622; 9. Simone Mancini (ITA, Ducati), +0:32.111; 10. Adria Monne (ESP, GASGAS), +0:32.916
EMX250 Overall — Top 10 Classification: 1. Francisco Garcia (ESP, KAW), 50 points; 2. Joe Brookes (GBR, HON), 38 p.; 3. Elias Escandell (ESP, HON), 38 p.; 4. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, HUS), 36 p.; 5. Áron Katona (HUN, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Simone Mancini (ITA, DUC), 28 p.; 8. Sebastian Leok (EST, HUS), 26 p.; 9. Jake Cannon (AUS, KAW), 24 p.; 10. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), 21 p.
EMX250 Championship — Top 10 Classification: 1. Francisco Garcia (ESP, KAW), 352 points; 2. Jake Cannon (AUS, KAW), 248 p.; 3. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, HUS), 231 p.; 4. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 203 p.; 5. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), 183 p.; 6. Nicolò Alvisi (ITA, HON), 163 p.; 7. Liam Owens (AUS, HUS), 152 p.; 8. Bernardo Tiburcio (BRA, YAM), 142 p.; 9. Tom Brunet (FRA, YAM), 120 p.; 10. Jekabs Kubulins (LAT, YAM), 117 p.
EMX250 Manufacturers — Classification: 1. Kawasaki, 383 points; 2. KTM, 314 p.; 3. Husqvarna, 237 p.; 4. Yamaha, 226 p.; 5. Honda, 188 p.; 6. Beta, 125 p.; 7. Triumph, 118 p.; 8. Ducati, 115 p.; 9. GASGAS, 100 p.; 10. Fantic, 11 p.
EMX250 Podium Portugal 2026
Ricardo Bauer
Round 7 of the EMX125 European Championship Presented by FMF Racing burst into life when Sleny Goyer dived up the inside to grab the early lead, with championship leader Moritz Ernecker slotting into second and his Rookies teammate Ricardo Bauer running inside the top five. The two Fantic Factory Racing EMX riders, Gennaro Utech and Bertram Thorius, were quickly into the mix. Thorius slicing past his teammate down by pit lane on the opening lap to take third, before Utech struck straight back and set off after the leaders.
The front of the race was a moving target. Goyer and Ernecker traded the lead, while behind them Edoardo Riganti forced his way past De Baets- AIT Yamaha Supported Team’s Dex Kooiker for sixth and MCV Motorsport-TM Moto’s Riccardo Pini hovered in the top eight. Goyer found his rhythm and got physical with the points leader to retake the lead on lap five. A bobble over the top of the hill cost Thorius fourth to Bauer on lap seven, and Bauer kept coming, impressively passing red plate Ernecker for third. Ernecker then made a mistake and went down, sliding back to eventually finish eighth.
RFME Spain National Team’s Pau Caudet climbed to fifth, with Riganti sixth and Pini seventh. The drama was not done: Bauer pounced on Utech, who ran wide on the exit of turn 11, promoting Bauer to second and dropping Utech to third. At the flag it was a second race-one win of the campaign for Goyer, ahead of Bauer, Utech, Thorius and Caudet. Kooiker, who had run strongly on the road, was handed a five-position penalty for failing post-race noise control, dropping him to twelfth.
Race 2 produced a frantic opening. Oleguer Riba grabbed the holeshot with Thorius in his wake, while Bauer slipped past his teammate and championship leader Ernecker in the early scramble. It was a day to forget for several of the protagonists: Goyer buried his start to drop to tenth on the opening lap, Yamaha Europe Monster Energy MJC’s Levi Townley also got away poorly, and Utech banged bars with Ernecker and crashed out in a turn, forced to retire with an apparent wrist injury. Ernecker remounted at the very back, went down again, and could only salvage sixteenth in what was a rare off-day for the Austrian star missing the podium for the first time this season.
Bauer was the man on the charge, carving past Thorius into second and homing in on Riba for the lead. The decisive moment came on lap four: Bauer took the commanding line into a turn and closed the door, leaving Riba no room. The Spaniard lost the front and went down, remounting around seventh before eventually being classified eighth. Goyer, recovering from his poor getaway, was on the move by laps four and five and produced a slick outside-inside move to pass Riba, while TMX Competition’s Liam Bruneau climbed to third past Emil Ziemer. Townley’s afternoon then ended in the dirt with a crash on lap seven.
Out front, Bauer’s speed was impressive, built on the kind of strong start that has sometimes deserted him this season and he checked out for a comfortable second race win and the fastest lap. He took the flag from Thorius and Bruneau, with Goyer recovering to fourth ahead of Ziemer and a hard-charging Lucas Leok in sixth.
The result handed Ricardo Bauer the overall victory (2-1) ahead of Sleny Goyer (1-4) and Bertram Thorius (4-2). Ernecker’s bruising Sunday, sixteenth in Race 2 for fourteenth overall on the day saw his championship advantage, which had stood at 48 points coming into the weekend, cut to just 19 over Bauer. Ernecker still leads on 288 points to Bauer’s 269
Ricardo Bauer: “That was a hard-charging race and a second race win. It was a really close move on Riba for the lead — it was close, and I’m sorry to hit him like that, but it’s fair racing. It’s a massive achievement for me and the team. We’re only 19 points behind my teammate now, so we’re getting back into it. Thank you for everything.”
1. Sleny Goyer; 2. Bertram Thorius
EMX125 — Race 1 — Top 10 Classification: 1. Sleny Goyer (FRA, Yamaha), 29:10.138; 2. Ricardo Bauer (AUT, KTM), +0:05.880; 3. Gennaro Utech (ITA, Fantic), +0:08.353; 4. Bertram Thorius (DEN, Fantic), +0:16.761; 5. Pau Caudet (ESP, GASGAS), +0:31.871; 6. Edoardo Riganti (ITA, Yamaha), +0:37.701; 7. Riccardo Pini (ITA, TM), +0:38.845; 8. Moritz Ernecker (AUT, KTM), +0:48.496; 9. Emil Ziemer (SUI, KTM), +0:52.144; 10. David Cracco (ITA, KTM), +0:53.254
EMX125 — Race 2 — Top 10 Classification: 1. Ricardo Bauer (AUT, KTM), 29:52.432; 2. Bertram Thorius (DEN, Fantic), +0:08.671; 3. Liam Bruneau (FRA, KTM), +0:15.519; 4. Sleny Goyer (FRA, Yamaha), +0:16.660; 5. Emil Ziemer (SUI, KTM), +0:20.552; 6. Lucas Leok (EST, KTM), +0:20.707; 7. Riccardo Pini (ITA, TM), +0:23.710; 8. Oleguer Riba (ESP, GASGAS), +0:25.659; 9. Pau Caudet (ESP, GASGAS), +0:25.761; 10. Levi Townley (NZL, Yamaha), +0:36.766
EMX125 Overall — Top 10 Classification: 1. Ricardo Bauer (AUT, KTM), 47 points; 2. Sleny Goyer (FRA, YAM), 43 p.; 3. Bertram Thorius (DEN, FAN), 40 p.; 4. Liam Bruneau (FRA, KTM), 30 p.; 5. Emil Ziemer (SUI, KTM), 28 p.; 6. Riccardo Pini (ITA, TM), 28 p.; 7. Pau Caudet (ESP, GASGAS), 28 p.; 8. Edoardo Riganti (ITA, YAM), 25 p.; 9. Gennaro Utech (ITA, FAN), 20 p.; 10. Oleguer Riba (ESP, GASGAS), 19 p.
EMX125 Championship — Top 10 Classification: 1. Moritz Ernecker (AUT, KTM), 288 points; 2. Ricardo Bauer (AUT, KTM), 269 p.; 3. Sleny Goyer (FRA, YAM), 240 p.; 4. Bertram Thorius (DEN, FAN), 188 p.; 5. Emil Ziemer (SUI, KTM), 164 p.; 6. Gennaro Utech (ITA, FAN), 157 p.; 7. David Cracco (ITA, KTM), 147 p.; 8. Edoardo Riganti (ITA, YAM), 140 p.; 9. Lucas Leok (EST, KTM), 130 p.; 10. Riccardo Pini (ITA, TM), 129 p.
EMX125 Manufacturer Classification: 1. KTM, 339 points; 2. Yamaha, 274 p.; 3. Fantic, 231 p.; 4. TM, 202 p.; 5. GASGAS, 65 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 55 p.;
EMX125 Poium Portugal 2026
All the photos from the MXGP of Portugal will be available HERE.
You can find the complete results HERE.
MXGP OF PORTUGAL QUICK FACTS:
Circuit length: 1575m
Type of ground: Sand
Temperature: 26°
Weather conditions: Sunny
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