Douwe van Mechgelen’s 2026 season was one of highs and lows. The Belgian youngster entered his rookie EMX250 campaign with plenty of expectations, but struggled to find confidence and consistency on the TM before making the difficult decision to switch machinery mid-season to KTM.
The change immediately brought a step in performance, with Van Mechgelen finding himself consistently inside the top 15 and showing the speed he had been searching for. However, just as he felt he was putting everything together, his season came to a premature end following a heavy crash at the Swedish GP.
Now, just over a week on from the incident, Van Mechgelen is focused first and foremost on his recovery while working with neurologists to ensure there are no lasting effects from the concussion. Despite the disappointment of an early finish, he can look back on some strong performances and believes his speed was there, particularly in timed practice at Portugal, Foxhill, Lommel and Sweden.
We caught up with Van Mechgelen to discuss the crash in Sweden, his decision to leave TM, the switch to KTM, his reflections on a challenging rookie season and the difficult decision ahead regarding EMX250 or MX2 for 2027.
GateDrop: Douwe, let’s start with how you are. You had a big crash in Sweden – it was nasty. The season is over for you but how are you just over a week from the crash?
Van Mechgelen: It was a big crash in Sweden; I hit my head quite hard and I was knocked out for a few minutes. I don’t really remember anything about it; from the crash I don’t remember but they tole me I came conscious after five minutes but still after that I can’t remember much. I actually can’t remember anything for like the first four hours after the crash, so it was a bit scary for everyone around me.
Right now, I’m feeling quite okay, from the outside you wouldn’t say there’s so much wrong but obviously we’re working with some neurologists and stuff to figure out when I can get back to my sporting activities without any issues. I don’t want it to be a lasting issue because I’ve heard it in the past that it can be like this and I don’t want that.
GateDrop: You started the year with TM and ended it on a KTM – it’s never ideal to swap machinery during the season as it means things aren’t going exactly to plan so talk me through the decision?
Van Mechgelen: Of course, it’s not what we wanted to switch at the middle of the season. It’s not how me and my family are like to not just finish out deals, but at some point, the bike was becoming dangerous to ride. We also had some big issues with it where I had crashes because of it. It just became dangerous and in general I was struggling really bad to set up the bike. I feel like power wise the bike is really strong, I have to say it’s stronger than what I am on now, but it is just suspension wise and the geometry of the bike. It just feels impossible to get a suspension set up on the bike, and it wasn’t really helping that the changes we asked for, it felt like we couldn’t do anything to the bike. They said nothing could be changed and to just ride it basically. That was a bit difficult and not really how we wanted it.
In the end we decided to change because I didn’t want to throw away my whole EMX250 rookie year struggling with a bike. It was making me look bad and it was looking making the team look bad. I knew I had way more in me that was coming out at that point. It was very difficult mentally to deal with that because I could see competition from years before that I’ve battled with all my life succeed in EMX250 while I was struggling to qualify. I could barely score points; I think I scored points once on the TM. It was awful and I can’t say much more about it.
GateDrop: When you first got on the TM what were the first impressions of the bike? Anyone I talk to says the bike is fine but it’s hard to set the suspension up?
Van Mechgelen: When I first got on the TM the first impressions were good. I went to test the bike and the bike felt great. You test a bike for potential, and I felt together with my Dad that the bike had a good potential.
As I said, suspension wise it was just difficult to set up the TM up and we just felt stuck at some point. That that was just difficult and it made me feel not confident at all on the bike. When you are not confident and your results are not good then it just keeps going worse and worse. Mentally for me and results wise, at some point we just had to pull out the plug and make a change because it was becoming way too difficult
GateDrop: How did it feel to get back on a KTM? The Seven Motorsport team also made the switch to KTM so it must have been nice to keep them in your corner?
Van Mechgelen: When I got back on the KTM, it felt great to be honest. I have to say that I didn’t ride the KTM before I made the switch, people think I rode the KTM before I switched to it from a TM but that isn’t true. I had a feeling that I could do better but if it turned out not to be the case then I would look a bit stupid. I was really happy the first second I stepped on the bike and even riding through the pits it felt already like being at home.
In general, the bike felt good and just way better, it was a feeling that I was lacking on the TM. I was just incredibly happy that I made the right decision and that I had that feeling on the bike again. If I switched and I was still slow then it would have made me look stupid. I am happy that it turned out all okay.
Obviously, the Seven Motorsports team made the decision to switch to KTM. I feel like the team and everyone there had a bunch of belief in me. They were always behind me in my decision and I’m really grateful for it. I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t happen at that many other places. It felt good to finally give them back some results on the KTM. I was consistently in the top 15 while with the TM I was struggling to qualify so that was a step in the right direction.
GateDrop: Overall, when you look back at the season how would you reflect on it?
Van Mechgelen: When I look back on the season, I’m not too pleased but on the other hand when I look back at my results after switching to the KTM I think I can be happy. At the Dutch Masters I showed some really good speed as well as some international races as well. It’s really just a shame that the season ended early for me.
In Sweden I felt like I was riding good, it’s the best I had felt all year in my opinion, it was just a shame that I was getting bad starts. I was riding a KTM with not much done to it and it was making it difficult to shoot off the grid of the starting grid. I feel like I was lacking there because riding wise I felt good. I feel like I proved it in timed practise in Portugal, Foxhill, Lommel and Sweden that I am right there on the pace. In Lommel and Sweden I was less than a second off pole position, so I feel like we definitely put a good step in the right direction. In Lommel I finished eighth in the second moto which was my season best and I felt good.
I’m just a bit pissed that the season came to an early end. I still had a few ADAC races and EMX rounds still to really show my real self. Right now, I have to think about my health first because I don’t want to have any ongoing issues for next year.
GateDrop: Have you got any plans for 2027 yet – would you have a preference between EMX250 or MX2?
Van Mechgelen: For 2027 there’s a lot of talk between me, my family and some teams but I haven’t decided anything yet. It’s a difficult decision to see if I want to ride EMX250 or MX2. I feel like EMX250 would be nice next year to run up front which I feel like I’m capable of. At the moment I have no offers but if I get some offers to race EMX250, that might make it an easier choice, but I don’t know yet. I feel like it might be one year too early for me to race in MX2. I don’t know what I’m going to do right now but we are a bit in debate. I hope I can get something done quickly so I can work for 2027 without stress on my winter prep.
I really want to thank my parents, my team and my trainer for everything this year as well as my sponsors. It’s been a tough year mentally and financially as well so I’m really grateful for their help like. I don’t think it would happen like this at a bunch of other places so I’m grateful for that. I can’t wait to get back to work for next year.
