The EMX65 / EMX85 European Championship Central Europe Zone officially kicked off its 2026 season in Delfzijl, The Netherlands, marking the first round for the zone and confirming once again its crucial role as a breeding ground for the next generation of European motocross talent. Across the four regional zones, riders are battling for a place in the highly anticipated final set for July in Loket, where the continent’s best young prospects will go head-to-head.
Words by FIM Europe – Feature Image courtesy of Carl Jones, which features Jack Waters on the podium in third.
The Dutch venue also staged the second round of the EMX Women European Championship, which continued to impress with a strong entry list of nearly 40 riders.
The depth and quality of the field underlined the rapid growth of women’s motocross, delivering intense racing and a very high competitive level throughout the weekend.
EMX85
The EMX85 class delivered close racing from the very first laps, with Germany’s Luca Nierychlo (KTM) emerging as the standout performer. With two consistent race wins, he secured the overall victory and an early advantage in the Central Europe standings. Dutch rider Kenzo Jaspers (Husqvarna) showed strong pace across both heats to finish second overall, while Great Britain’s Harry Dale (KTM) completed the podium thanks to two solid rides. Just behind, Nixon Coppins (Yamaha) and Jaggar Townley (Yamaha) completed the top five, highlighting the depth of talent in the category.
Also making it into the top 10 was Jett Gardiner with a superb 8th, while fellow Brits Cohen Jagielski and Arthur King also rode well for 11th & 12th.
EMX65
In the EMX65 class, it was Demy Hermes (GASGAS) who set the benchmark in Delfzijl. With a commanding performance and consistent results across both races with a double second position, the young British rider secured the overall win and made a strong statement at the start of the season. The Netherlands’ Bas Verspaandonk (GASGAS) followed closely, showing excellent consistency to take second overall, thanks to a fourth and a win, while Jack Waters (KTM) from Great Britain completed the podium with two P3. Matteo Bauten (KTM) and Jay Groeneveld (KTM) also featured prominently inside the top positions, keeping the pressure high throughout the event.
Tommy Wood rode a blinder in race one to take the victory, but a mechanical in race 2 saw him suffer a DNF, which relegated him to 9th overall.
EMX Women
The EMX Women European Championship saw a shift at the top as home favourite Lotte van Drunen (Yamaha) delivered a perfect weekend, taking two race wins and securing the overall victory in front of her home crowd. Lucy Barker (KTM) from Great Britain impressed with her consistency to finish second overall, while Brežice winner Danee Gelissen (Husqvarna) had to settle for third this time despite another strong performance.
In the EMX Women 125 class, Latvia’s Patricija Berzina (GASGAS) dominated the category with two convincing race wins, taking the overall victory. Belgium’s Toke Tops (TM) finished second after two solid races, while Austria’s Joela Freudenthaler (KTM) completed the podium. The category once again showcased a competitive and growing field, reinforcing the strength of the women’s development pathway.
Results
EMX85
| Pos | No | Competitor | Nationality | Total | Races |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 591 | Luca NIERYCHLO | GER | 50 | 25 / 25 |
| 2 | 400 | Kenzo JASPERS | NED | 40 | 22 / 18 |
| 3 | 598 | Harry DALE | GBR | 38 | 16 / 22 |
| 4 | 426 | Nixon COPPINS | GBR | 34 | 18 / 16 |
| 5 | 543 | Jaggar TOWNLEY | NZL | 33 | 13 / 20 |
| 6 | 500 | Kash VAN HAMOND | NED | 30 | 20 / 10 |
| 7 | 493 | Xen TEMMERMAN | BEL | 27 | 14 / 13 |
| 8 | 420 | Jett GARDINER | GBR | 26 | 11 / 15 |
| 9 | 405 | Mike PIJNEN | NED | 26 | 12 / 14 |
| 10 | 532 | Daniel DEVINE | IRL | 22 | 10 / 12 |
| 11 | 475 | Cohen JAGIELSKI | GBR | 22 | 15 / 7 |
| 12 | 424 | Arthur KING | GBR | 17 | 9 / 8 |
| 13 | 411 | Felix SIEGL | GER | 13 | 7 / 6 |
| 14 | 499 | Timeo MOHRING | BEL | 11 | 0 / 11 |
| 15 | 514 | Nick DE JONG | GER | 9 | 0 / 9 |
| 16 | 441 | Jann HUISMAN | NED | 8 | 8 / 0 |
| 17 | 599 | Scott VAN DEN BOOMEN | NED | 7 | 3 / 4 |
| 18 | 575 | Michal HENDRYCH | CZE | 7 | 4 / 3 |
| 19 | 432 | Matto VERTONGEN | BEL | 6 | 6 / 0 |
| 20 | 408 | Yuel KARNEBEEK | NED | 5 | 0 / 5 |
| 21 | 498 | Tobe VANDENEYNDE | BEL | 5 | 5 / 0 |
| 22 | 466 | Matis MOHRING | BEL | 3 | 2 / 1 |
| 23 | 537 | Matej MASÁR | SVK | 2 | 0 / 2 |
| 24 | 565 | Daan OVERVELD | NED | 1 | 1 / 0 |
| 25 | 448 | Jessey VAN VEEN | NED | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 26 | 562 | Elliott SHAWYER | GBR | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 27 | 512 | Loïc SAEYS | BEL | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 28 | 422 | Mezzavilla NOAM | BEL | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 29 | 546 | Tijn BRAAKHUIS | NED | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 30 | 457 | Sydney WILLIAMS | GBR | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 31 | 586 | Finn VAES | NED | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 32 | 421 | Jack CLARK | GBR | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 33 | 503 | Téo SERESSIA | BEL | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 34 | 472 | Tim BURGERMEISTER | GER | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 35 | 523 | Vojtech ZENDULKA | CZE | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 36 | 529 | Luuk KLEIN WOOLTHUIS | NED | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 37 | 449 | William Emil TWAGIRAMUNGU | DEN | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 38 | 502 | Jens VISSER | NED | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 39 | 595 | Eryk LANDOWSKI | POL | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 40 | 484 | Cedric FLEERACKERS | BEL | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 41 | 561 | Haakon RØNNING | NOR | 0 | 0 / 0 |
EMX65
| Pos | No | Competitor | Nationality | Total | Races |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 517 | Demy HERMES | GBR | 44 | 22 / 22 |
| 2 | 594 | Bas VERSPAANDONK | NED | 43 | 18 / 25 |
| 3 | 455 | Jack WATERS | GBR | 40 | 20 / 20 |
| 4 | 555 | Matteo BAUTEN | GER | 33 | 15 / 18 |
| 5 | 528 | Jay GROENEVELD | NED | 31 | 16 / 15 |
| 6 | 428 | Bruno LENARZ | GER | 30 | 14 / 16 |
| 7 | 510 | Oscar GOBLET | BEL | 26 | 12 / 14 |
| 8 | 525 | Madden VISSER | NED | 25 | 13 / 12 |
| 9 | 412 | Tommy WOOD | GBR | 25 | 25 / 0 |
| 10 | 521 | Joshua GOBLET | BEL | 24 | 11 / 13 |
| 11 | 541 | Roan CALADO-REYES | BEL | 19 | 10 / 9 |
| 12 | 400 | Vitus HORSEBOG | DEN | 17 | 7 / 10 |
| 13 | 409 | Kalle KAPPEL | DEN | 16 | 8 / 8 |
| 14 | 499 | Joschua RATH | GER | 15 | 9 / 6 |
| 15 | 598 | Elliot Roland KING | INA | 11 | 0 / 11 |
| 16 | 450 | Berry Noteea HALEVY | KEN | 9 | 4 / 5 |
| 17 | 483 | Benedikt SVOBODA | CZE | 7 | 0 / 7 |
| 18 | 433 | Oliver TRAFFORD | GBR | 7 | 3 / 4 |
| 19 | 417 | Ferre VREVEN | BEL | 6 | 6 / 0 |
| 20 | 489 | Villads CHRISTIANSEN | DEN | 5 | 2 / 3 |
| 21 | 407 | Luca KARSTEN | NED | 5 | 5 / 0 |
| 22 | 536 | Finn KLEIN WOOLTHUIS | NED | 3 | 1 / 2 |
| 23 | 421 | Adam PRCHAL | CZE | 1 | 0 / 1 |
| 24 | 584 | Tao CORRETEL | BEL | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 25 | 442 | Louis VILAIN | BEL | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 26 | 461 | Jenson KING | GBR | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 27 | 449 | Eli VANDERHEYDEN | USA | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 28 | 513 | Malek RAHMAN | DEN | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 29 | 518 | Filip KŘÍŽEK | GBR | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 30 | 509 | August RASMUSSEN | DEN | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 31 | 432 | Franz BÄHR | GER | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 32 | 526 | Stan VERCAMMEN | BEL | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 33 | 445 | Alexander BIHLMANN | GER | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 34 | 472 | Sörn DE JONG | NED | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 35 | 411 | Max MILLER | GBR | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 36 | 482 | Adam ZIKA | CZE | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 37 | 422 | Ken SCHLEPERS | NED | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 38 | 490 | Lauge HANSEN | DEN | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 39 | 557 | Vojtech NOVOTNY | CZE | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 40 | 533 | Diaz SIEMELING | NED | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 41 | 471 | Brendan MCAREAVEY | IRL | 0 | 0 / 0 |
EMX Women
| Pos | No | Competitor | Nationality | Total | Races |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 401 | Lotte VAN DRUNEN | NED | 50 | 25 / 25 |
| 2 | 310 | Lucy BARKER | GBR | 42 | 20 / 22 |
| 3 | 717 | Danee GELISSEN | NED | 38 | 18 / 20 |
| 4 | 188 | Shana VAN DER VLIST | NED | 38 | 22 / 16 |
| 5 | 172 | Lynn VALK | NED | 34 | 16 / 18 |
| 6 | 644 | Laura RAUNKJÆR | DEN | 27 | 15 / 12 |
| 7 | 21 | Jana BOHLE | AUT | 26 | 13 / 13 |
| 8 | 11 | Jenny ENGELAND | NOR | 25 | 10 / 15 |
| 9 | 733 | Patricija BERZINA | LAT | 25 | 11 / 14 |
| 10 | 26 | Aneta ČEPELAKOVA | CZE | 21 | 12 / 9 |
| 11 | 158 | Melissa MÄNTYLÄ | FIN | 20 | 9 / 11 |
| 12 | 29 | Martine AGARD-MICHELSEN | NOR | 16 | 6 / 10 |
| 13 | 702 | Anna LEGAARD | DEN | 15 | 7 / 8 |
| 14 | 543 | Maxime BREUGELMANS | BEL | 14 | 14 / 0 |
| 15 | 68 | Joela FREUDENTHALER | AUT | 13 | 8 / 5 |
| 16 | 90 | Toke TOPS | BEL | 11 | 5 / 6 |
| 17 | 479 | Angela LAGEMAN | NED | 8 | 1 / 7 |
| 18 | 398 | Julieta CROCI GRASSI | ESP | 8 | 4 / 4 |
| 19 | 92 | Lynn KELDERS | NED | 5 | 3 / 2 |
| 20 | 55 | Theodora GUMENIUC | ROU | 3 | 0 / 3 |
| 21 | 19 | Tiril OTTESEN | NOR | 2 | 2 / 0 |
| 22 | 101 | Chloë BOONEN | BEL | 1 | 0 / 1 |
| 23 | 48 | Elinor SHAHAR | ISR | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 24 | 427 | Hailey VAN DER WIJK | NED | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 25 | 547 | Nadira BRONSEMA | NED | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 26 | 496 | Duran LUGTENBORG | NED | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 27 | 526 | Kyshara DAS | NED | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 27 | 675 | Sheva ARDIANSYAH | INA | 0 | 0 / 0 |
EMX Women 125
| Pos | No | Competitor | Nationality | Total | Races |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 733 | Patricija BERZINA | LAT | 50 | 25 / 25 |
| 2 | 90 | Toke TOPS | BEL | 42 | 20 / 22 |
| 3 | 68 | Joela FREUDENTHALER | AUT | 42 | 22 / 20 |
| 4 | 398 | Julieta CROCI GRASSI | ESP | 36 | 18 / 18 |
| 5 | 55 | Theodora GUMENIUC | ROU | 31 | 15 / 16 |
| 6 | 19 | Tiril OTTESEN | NOR | 31 | 16 / 15 |
| 7 | 48 | Elinor SHAHAR | ISR | 28 | 14 / 14 |
| 8 | 427 | Hailey VAN DER WIJK | NED | 25 | 12 / 13 |
| 9 | 547 | Nadira BRONSEMA | NED | 25 | 13 / 12 |
| 10 | 496 | Duran LUGTENBORG | NED | 22 | 11 / 11 |
| 11 | 526 | Kyshara DAS | NED | 0 | 0 / 0 |
