Published On: 11 april 2026
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DThe opening race in Sardinia would see three leaders: Mano Faure, Nicolai Skovbjerg, and when the prizes were handed out, it was Francisco Garcia who proved to be the best in the heavy dune sand. A number of crashes were decisive for the outcome.

Mano Faure, Nicolo Alvisi, and Nicolai Skovbjerg tried to ride away at the start, knowing that European Championship leader Francisco Garcia was not in the leading group. We counted him as ninth. The Spaniard did not panic, and his teammate Jake Cannon actually followed him closely as well. Quite quickly, Garcia occupied third place behind Faure and Skovbjerg, who had also overtaken Alvisi.

At that moment, Cannon had lost ground. It wasn't until the seventh lap that Garcia really managed to get on Skovbjerg's wheel. He went on top of him and over, but by then he was four seconds behind leader Faure. Francisco closed the gap. When he launched his attack on Mano, he crashed in the corner before the pit lane.

Skovbjerg stormed past him, back to second place. Next, it was leader Faure's turn to make a mistake. The situation turned completely around, as both Skovbjerg and Garcia were able to capitalize on it. After the crash, the cards looked good for Garcia, who was trailing leader Skovbjerg by 3 seconds. He would slowly but surely close the gap. Meanwhile, Faure went down for a second time. Only Alvisi could pass the Frenchman, an excellent Gyan Doensen just missing out.

Meanwhile, the battle for the win was in full swing. But Garcia was unstoppable; he simply rode faster than Skovbjerg. Behind those two, with a safe lead, things remained exciting when Faure overtook Alvisi again to take third place. Doensen still had some reserve left and, in turn, passed last year's EMX125 champion. Faure really rode a hilarious race when he buried his head in the sand for the third time. This was one crash too many. Doensen thus easily secured third place ahead of Alvisi and Andrea Roberti. We wonder where Gyan would have ended up with a good start.

Garcia was essentially able to cruise to victory when Skovberg also appeared to have no answer.

Of the riders more familiar to us, three more would score points alongside Doensen. Roan Tolsma finished fifteenth, ahead of Dean Gregoire and Douwe Van Mechgelen. Tolsma rode a blistering run and stormed from 28th place to fifteenth. Gregoire lost some ground from the eleventh pass after one lap. There was also pure gain for Van Mechgelen, who initially experienced a slight dip but ultimately managed to record a gain of six places. Ampoorter also made an upward curve and seemed poised to claim the final point. However, that failed in the final lap. Guus Oomen finished 31st. Emile De Baere called it quits after six laps. Jarne Bervoets started outside the points and dropped out after five laps.

Garcia has not dropped a single point at this moment. Because Jake Cannon finished sixth after some back-and-forth, he retains third place ahead of the pleasant surprise that Skovbjerg undoubtedly is.

Riola Sardo EMX250 reeks 1: 1. Francisco Garcia (ESP, Kawasaki), 30:37.044; 2. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:07.477; 3. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), +0:17.598; 4. Nicolò Alvisi (ITA, Honda), +0:26.949; 5. Andrea Roberti (ITA, KTM), +0:28.134; 6. Jake Cannon (AUS, Kawasaki), +0:29.716; 7. Áron Katona (HUN, KTM), +0:30.394; 8. Kasimir Hindersson (FIN, KTM), +0:45.366; 9. William Askew (GBR, Triumph), +0:46.778; 10. Dani Heitink (NED, Husqvarna), +0:47.154; 11. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), +0:51.360; 12. Sebastian Leok (EST, Husqvarna), +0:53.435; 13. Liam Owens (AUS, KTM), +1:00.264; 14. Tom Brunet (FRA, Yamaha), 15. Roan Tolsma (NED, Husqvarna), +1:05.239; 16. Dean Gregoire (NED, Husqvarna), +1:15.062; 17. Douwe Van Mechgelen (BEL, TM), +1:20.928; 18. Mano Faure (FRA, Yamaha), +1:35.747; 19. Alexis Fueri (FRA, Beta), +1:36.590; 20. Alessandro Traversini (ITA, KTM), +1:38.006; 21. Adria Monne (ESP, KTM), +1:43.174; 22. Simone Mancini (ITA, Ducati), +1:45.370; 23. Vencislav Toshev (BUL, Yamaha), +1:54.623; 24. Jacobs Kubulins (LAT, Yamaha), +1:54.980; 25. Cesar Paine Diaz (CHI, Husqvarna), +1:55.106; 26. Ian Ampoorter (BEL, KTM), +2:38.245; 27. Leon Rudolph (GER, KTM), -1 lap(s); 28. Vaclav Janout (CZE, KTM), -1 lap(s); 29. Manuel Carreras (ESP, KTM), -1 lap(s); 30. Trey Cox (RSA, KTM), -1 lap(s); 31. Guus Oomen (NED, Husqvarna), -2 lap(s); 32. Maximilian Ernecker (AUT, KTM), -6 lap(s); 33. Joe Brookes (GBR, Triumph), -7 lap(s); 34. Lyonel Reichl (LIE, KTM), -7 lap(s); 35. Cole McCullough (IRL, Yamaha), -8 lap(s); 36. Maurizio Scollo (ITA, KTM), -8 lap(s); 37. Emile De Baere (BEL, Honda), -9 lap(s); 38. Jarne Bervoets (BEL, Yamaha), -10 lap(s); 39. Brando Rispoli (ITA, Beta), -11 lap(s); 40. Eric Rakow (GER, Triumph), -13 lap(s);

EMX250 standings (one more series to go tomorrow): 1. Francisco Garcia (ESP, KAW), 125 points; 2. Jake Cannon (AUS, KAW), 88 p.; 3. Nicolai Skovbjerg (DEN, HUS), 68 p.; 4. Bernardo Tiburcio (BRA, YAM), 54 p.; 5. Gyan Doensen (NED, KTM), 53 p.; 6. Liam Owens (AUS, KTM), 52 p.; 7. Mano Faure (FRA, YAM), 49 pts.; 8. Nicolò Alvisi (ITA, HON), 49 p.; 9. Mads Fredsoe (DEN, KTM), 47 p.; 10. Alexis Fueri (FRA, BET), 43 pts.; 11. Lyonel Reichl (LIE, KTM), 42 pts.; 12. Simone Mancini (ITA, DUC), 38 points; 13. Tom Brunet (FRA, YAM), 37 pts.; 14. Adria Monne (ESP, KTM), 36 pts.; 15. William Askew (GBR, TRI), 32 pts.; 16. Jacobs Kubulins (LAT, YAM), 31 pts.; 17. Áron Katona (HUN, KTM), 26 pts.; 18. August Frisk (SWE, KTM), 26 p.; 19. Francesco Bellei (ITA, KTM), 25 p.; 20. Dean Gregoire (NED, HUS), 21 p.; 21. Roan Tolsma (NED, HUS), 21 p.; 22. Maximilian Ernecker (AUT, KTM), 17 p.; 23. Andrea Roberti (ITA, KTM), 16 p.; 24. Brando Rispoli (ITA, BET), 16 p.; 25. Sebastian Leok (EST, HUS), 16 p.; 26. Kasimir Hindersson (FIN, KTM), 13 p.; 27. Niccolo Mannini (ITA, TRI), 12 p.; 28. Jules Pietre (FRA, FAN), 11 p.; 29. Dani Heitink (NED, HUS), 11 p.; 30. Joe Brookes (GBR, TRI), 9 p.; 31. Jarne Bervoets (BEL, YAM), 8 p.; 32. Douwe Van Mechgelen (BEL, TM), 4 p.; 33. Maurizio Scollo (ITA, KTM), 3 p.; 34. Guus Oomen (DOWN, HOUSE), 3 p.; 35. Cesar Paine Diaz (CHI, HUS), 2 p.; 36. Alessandro Traversini (ITA, KTM), 1 p.;