Gyan Doensen’s 2026 EMX250 campaign may have fallen short of the expectations he had coming into the season, but the Dutch youngster has plenty of reasons to look forward with optimism. Finishing fourth in the championship, Doensen showed flashes of the speed needed to fight at the sharp end, but carrying an injury and bad starts prevented him from converting that pace into the results he wanted.
With the EMX250 chapter now coming to an end, Doensen is preparing for the next major step in his career as he moves into the MX2 World Championship in 2027. While he remains tight-lipped on exactly where he will race next season, Doensen reveals that discussions with a team are looking “very, very promising” and that his ultimate goal is to use his rookie MX2 campaign to push towards a factory opportunity in 2028.
Doensen will also head to Brazil later in the year for his first race outside Europe, giving him another opportunity to gain valuable experience before making the full-time move into MX2.
Ed Heather from Cult Moto caught up with Doensen to reflect on a challenging 2026 season, his biggest lessons learned, his plans for 2027, and why he believes turning his speed into results will be the key to taking the next step in his career.
Gyan, fourth overall in the 2026 EMX250 Championship. There’s been some highs, there’s been some lows. You’re probably not over the moon with your season, however, if you’re going to be a bit depressed, I can give you some positives and we can make you happy. So, how are we feeling?
Doensen: Fourth overall in the 2026 campaign, like you said, but off to MX2 now. I am not pleased with the result, obviously, but I’ve shown some really good things. I also showed that I need to work a lot this winter. I’m all for it, it’s a new motivation moving up to MX2, I’m really looking really forward to that. It’s been a dream of mine since I was a small kid, since I started riding to race MX2 and that dream is becoming reality. So, I am really happy with that.
This season, like I said, hasn’t been easy on me. I struggled with some small injuries during the season and it wasn’t the easiest one. I’m happy and I’m proud of the work I put in and I always kept going. Let’s go for next season.
Have you already signed the deal for 2027?
Doensen: I haven’t signed anywhere yet. We have nothing on paper yet, but we are speaking with the team and it’s looking very, very promising for next year. I am really happy and hopefully I can show my full potential there and surprise some people and hopefully get a factory ride in 2028.
Will you all the rounds or just European rounds – will you start the season doing the fly aways?
Doensen: I can’t say too much about it at the moment, but hopefully the news will come out soon and I will be pleased to share it.
Let’s talk about the racing, this is your first time racing in Turkey. How did you find it all?
Doensen: It’s the first flyaway GP for me, let’s say. It’s a lovely track. The prep yesterday morning was questionable. I was feeling like I was riding an 85cc, also with altitude, but with how the track was prepped, but no, I loved the track, loved the layout, nice jumps. I felt good on it all weekend and just a shame I didn’t really get the starts I wanted. I showed that I could pass and showed that I could be there with the front guys. I did that too many times this season, that I showed that I had the speed, but not winning or not being on podium. Let’s turn speed into results next year.
You have the speed from the middle to the end of the race, but the opening laps aren’t your strong point. What’s going on there? You have the speed!
Doensen: I mean, I showed last week that if I get the start, I’m also fast in the first opening laps. That’s always been my strong point. When I’m in the mix, I just get a bit tight, not really scared, but I just don’t want to make a mistake which would mean I’d drop back even more. I like to settle in a little bit and then just carry the momentum throughout the moto. I’m very, very fit, but I am because I do a lot of work, physical and also mentally. I think I’m in a good spot even for next year. That’s definitely my strong point and hopefully I can, how do you say, advantage from that next year also.
What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned this year?
Doensen: To never give up, but the biggest thing I’ve learned this year is just keep working. They say hard work always pays off. We didn’t see it so much this year, I got an MX2 ride and that was the goal coming into this season. Maybe hard work does pay off a little bit but not in terms of the results, of course. I did two podiums but unfortunately had no moto win. After all the things that were happening this season, I’m still quite happy with fourth overall.
You won some British rounds and you won some ADAC, let’s not sell ourselves short…
Doensen: I won two out of three moto’s in the ADAC I raced. I won some British rounds, but in that EMX250 class, I wanted to shine and I didn’t. I got dirty.
People might only look at your results, but your speed is better than the results, right?
Doensen: It’s the hard reality, let’s say. People only look at the results because at the end of the day, it’s the thing that counts, you know? The speed doesn’t count if you’re the fastest. You can see it with Sacha Coenen, he’s pretty much always the fastest. But he has some crashes and some things happen. I know I have the speed. It’s just turning luck into my luck, let’s say.
You’ve got a race in Brazil coming up – the FIM Intercontinental, right?!
Doensen: That’s going to be a bit different and my first proper fly away. We’re getting ready for it. Obviously, no one knows what it’s going to be like at the moment. It’s still all a bit unsure. But I am really looking really forward to it, it’s going to be my first time overseas. It’ll be my first time out of Europe, let’s say. It’s going to be a great experience. I will bejust coming out of my break then and if I can win, I’ll try to win, obviously, but I’m not going to injure myself. At least that is what I try. Things can happen out of your control sometimes.
You don’t get money for winning, you get nothing. I just go there for the experience and have fun.
We still have a British Championship left at Blaxhall…
Doensen: We’re looking forward to Blaxhall. I will try to make it back-to-back-to-back. I rode there last year. It is a fun track; it is small but fun. The start is key there. I’m still second in championship there with a big margin over third, so nothing too crazy. It will be my last race of the season so I will just try to have some fun.
