Scott Smulders heads into the 2026 season with renewed confidence and plenty of momentum – after an eye-catching start to the year during the Italian pre-season races at Alghero and Mantova. The Dutch rider, now settled into his new SixtySeven Racing Husqvarna squad, turned heads with his speed and consistency, narrowly missing out on podium finishes while proving he has taken a clear step forward over the winter.
We caught up with Smulders as reflects on his impressive pre-season form, the transition to a new team and bike, lessons learned from a challenging 2025 campaign, and his ambitions for the MX2 World Championship. He also opens up about his winter preparation, working with Davy Pootjes, adapting to different track conditions and why he feels 2026 could be a breakthrough season.
GateDrop: Scott, that’s two pre-season races done at Alghero and Mantova. Firstly, wow! Did you expect to be so fast?
Smulders: The first two preseason races are done. I was also a little bit surprised to be so good in the mix speed-wise. I know I made good improvements over the winter, and I had the speed, I know that for sure, but racing is always different. I saw at the practice tracks, I was lap timewise pretty good. But racing is racing and it’s always a different thing. But yeah, I was a bit surprised, but also, I knew my speed was pretty good, I was very happy.
GateDrop: Can you just talk me through both of your weekends?
Smulders: The first weekend in Algero, I went in with no expectations. I just put in the work like always. Of course, I changed a few things in my program with the team and stuff, but I just wanted to be there, do my laps, get some race rhythm again and go home in one piece. Alghero was actually already pretty good. In qualifying, I made a mistake by myself by going on a fast lap behind a slow rider so then I messed up my first lap and then it started to rain like fully crazy. It meant the track got like 5-10 seconds a lap slower so that was my mistake, bad qualifying, but I wasn’t stressed at all. For the first race I had an okay start. I was like 10th and just rode my laps like I do on practice, felt good, nothing special. It was just normal and I finished fourth, but I was pretty close on the last lap to third as well. I almost passed Simon (Längenfelder) so I was like, what the f**k is happening? I was happy. For the second moto, I was again around 10th and the first lap was my mistake. I went to go too fast to the front and I stalled the bike on the downhill and the bike didn’t start. So I was like 17th, going past the finish line on the first lap. After that, I just rode really, really good. I think in my opinion, even better than the first moto and I charged back to fifth so that was good. I was fifth overall as well, with same points as third and fourth so I just missed the podium. For the first race back with the new team and everything, I was super happy and was good.
For Mantova, of course, when you do a race like this (in Alghero) I expected more than just riding, you know, it’s normal. In practice, my time was at least a lot better. I was fourth fastest, I felt consistent and nothing crazy or anything like that. The first race I had a good start, top five and then I passed into second. I was behind Kubulins, but it was very, very hard to pass because the track had one main line. I was actually also a little bit scared to move over because Simon was right behind me. When I moved over, he also passed me and then I was third. When he passed Kubulins, I tried to go directly with him and it worked out quite well. After that I was just riding pretty consistent and I finished second, so that was good. The second moto, I completely messed up the start. I span on the mesh and was completely last in the first corner. I had to go a little bit crazy on the first lap because I know passing was almost impossible. I was like around 15th after the first lap and then I just rode my laps, tried to pass, but it was very, very difficult. I finished seventh in the end. I was fourth overall again with the same points as second and third. I was in a battle with Simon for the first few laps and it was nice to battle with him. I was fourth overall. I was very happy with my riding both weekends. I finished second overall in the championship. So that was good. I was happy and it’s good to start the season like this.
GateDrop: Both tracks looked really gnarly, watching it on TV, you could have been forgiven for thinking they were two Dutch races (laughs). How did you find the tracks?
Smulders: The tracks were quite tough, but I have to say in Alghero, the track was not that bumpy. It was bumpy, but it had a really good flow in my opinion and also had a few lines to pass and go. In my opinion, the track in Alghero was pretty good. Of course, it was deep everywhere with ruts and bumps, but it had some good flow. I enjoyed the track a lot with the downhills and stuff.
Mantova was not too bad, but it was worse for passing than Alghero. There was just one dry line and when you go next to it, there was like deep mud because they put the mud off the track a little bit but underneath it was quite hard. In practice it was deep but in the first moto and especially the second moto, we got hard edges coming up and the jumps got like the concrete bottom and stuff. It was actually quite hard pack but I enjoyed it. The bike was working well, and I enjoyed both races at two completely different tracks in my opinion.
They were both sandy and deep, but Alghero was really, really sandy and Montova got quite hard pack, especially in some places with some edges and stuff on the jumps. But they were both really good.
GateDrop: Have you done much riding in hard pack conditions through winter and how do you feel in those conditions?
Smulders: I tried to do as much hard pack practice as possible, but actually this winter was quite hard because actually everywhere in Europe had quite bad weather. But we made the most of it and we tried to ride hard pack as much as possible. At the beginning, we were in Holland and Germany, of course, we rode a lot of sand just to get a good base. After that, we tried to go hard pack as much as possible and to switch things up. We tried to go as much as possible on the hard pack. Especially for me, because that’s a little bit my weak point and I know that. I start to feel better on the hard pack, especially with the Husqvarna. I actually feel quite good on the hard pack. We found also in Italy, the last day before Mantova, we found a track in the area there. They had full GP prep with some crazy ruts and stuff. I found a really good setup for the bike so I was happy with that. I’m looking forward but for now, the main focus will be trying to get as much hard pack time as possible before the real races start. But the first few races will be sandy as well so that’s good. On the hard pack, we will just try to build as much as possible.
GateDrop: Let’s reflect on your 2025 season, how was that for you? Your best moto result I think was 14th a couple of times. Where you happy with the season?
Smulders: What can I say? It was okay. It was not special and not what I expect from myself. It could be a lot better. But actually, after the winter, I knew it was going to be like a learning season for the bike. At first, we thought the base was quite good. But then we explained when we went to more hard conditions for the bike, race conditions, the bike was lacking a little bit. We found that out during the season, but we tried to do our best. It was nothing special and far from what I was planning to do but I made the best of it.
GateDrop: You raced a Triumph last year, a recently developed new bike, how did you find it?
Smulders: We did what we could. Like I said before, the Triumph was nice to ride. But add the small things that you find out during the year, when conditions get harder, or when you ride more, put more hours on the bike, and stuff like this. But overall, the bike was nice and I enjoyed it. It was not too bad.
GateDrop: This year you’ve signed with SixtySeven Racing that sees you race Husqvarna – how did everything come together to sign with the team?
Smulders: I’m going to be riding for SixtySeven Husqvarna. I’m very, very happy. For me, now, it is the next step that I needed. You can also see it now directly. It actually came together a little bit out of nowhere. I was just speaking with some friends and some people and out of nowhere, we got in contact with them and then they sent me the contract, I read it and I thought, when this is all true, this is all what I need. We went out, met the people, signed the contract and then it was a deal done. I was very happy and actually everything went pretty smooth.
GateDrop: How’s it going with the team so far and where did you spend most of your winter?
Smulders: With the team, it is going really, really good. I really like the people – my mechanic and the team boss, his wife and everybody. It’s all working really good and I like the bike a lot. This is what I was missing the last couple of years with how professional they are, the good material, everything, this is what you need as an MX2 GP rider. You can see it already in the results, it’s working and I’m very happy with that. I have to say a big thank you to the team, mechanic, family, private sponsors and everyone involved for this opportunity.
GateDrop: Did you change much over winter this year compared to different seasons and if so, what kind of things?
Smulders: I spent the beginning of the winter in Holland to work on the base. At the beginning, I was riding the 350cc as well, just to get a little bit stronger and get the feeling. After that, we went with the team for two weeks to Spain to do some riding there and it all went well. From that point, we just kept on working. We did some more weeks at home again in the sand. We went for two weeks before the first race in Alghero, we went to Sardinia and did some riding there. In between, Alghero and Mantova, we did some training in Italy. Everything went pretty smooth and I didn’t change too much.
I kept on working with Davy (Pootjes), which was really important for me, because last year, at the end of the year, we started to make some good steps already, like speed wise, but it didn’t really show at the races. At the practice tracks, we made some good improvements already and we just kept on building with some better material, with a new team and some professional people to work with. I have now got my own mechanic and material, what I need and stuff like this. This was just a better base to work from. The only other change I’ve made is to start working with my physical trainers when I raced a 125cc with BT Husqvarna. That was a huge step for me because they helped me really, really good. But for the rest, we just put in the work like always and just follow the program.
GateDrop: Before Alghero did you have any goals for the 2026 season? Have they changed these goals because you’ve looked so good in the pre-season races? What are your goals for the MX2 World Championship?
Smulders: We had no goals before the two pre-season races. We just want to do the laps, get the race rhythm, get home safe and just know where we are at. You never know on the practice track what other people are doing, what you are doing – it’s always difficult to see. We were just there to gain some information with the new bike and stuff. But it went all really, really smooth. Maybe a little bit too smooth (laughs), but better than struggling big time.
I had no goals before the first race but for sure the second race in Mantova, we had some expectations. My goal in 2026 racing the MX2 World Championship is to do as many top ten results as possible. That was the goal and it will stay the same now. We will keep working for this and let’s see where we end up.
GateDrop: For 2026, I assume you’ll be racing the MX2 World Championship events that take place in Europe – you won’t be doing the flyaway rounds?
Smulders: I will be doing the MX2 World Championship and the ADAC because I’m in a German team. I will do the first flyaway round in Argentina. I had the possibility to do it, so I took my chance. After that, I will do for sure all the European rounds. South Africa, that’s in the middle of the season. We have to see how everything is going like in the ADAC championship and also in MX2 because you never know what’s going to happen.
For that race in South Africa and also the last three races in Turkey, China, Australia, it’s the same deal for me. We have to see how everything is going and from that point, we will just look what we do. When it’s going really good, like the first two preseason races, then we will do all the races. If maybe we have some problems with the bike or I have a small injury or something like this or whatever, then we will skip the other flyaway rounds. But for now, it looks like we will do the full series as well as the ADAC.
GateDrop: You’ve been racing MX2 World Championship events for the past few years now and before the EMX250 – just how high is the level of racing in MX2?
Smulders: Last year, I did like eight rounds of the MX2 World Championship and the year before, I did three. The level is really high but it’s different than EMX. You cannot compare because in EMX, they go really fast, but it’s different than MX2. When you compare the lap times when they are not riding together, you do not see so much lap time difference.
But when you are in the MX2 field, it’s so much different. They ride more… it’s hard to explain, but they just go full gas from start to finish. You don’t get one second to rest. I think the top guys in MX2 are just one step up from the top guys in EMX, but that is totally normal. You can almost not compare it, in my opinion. You ride different tracks as well. But actually, I enjoy the MX2 races more than EMX because you have always the special times when you do EMX, in between other races. You have to learn for MX2 and you have to learn in EMX for sure. I enjoy MX2 so far and I’m really excited to continue like this for this year.
GateDrop: You started working with Davy Pootjes last year, what is it like working with him and how does he help you? It seems to be working!
Smulders: I started to work with Davy last year and he is really, really helping me, you know. On the 125cc, I was quite good and also on the 85cc. After that I had a few tough years but then last year, I decided to start working with Davy. From the beginning, he told me I was good enough to go in MX2 and be a good rider, but we needed a lot of work together and we did that. Since day one, we are matching really good and the working together is going good. I have only good things to say about him. He has helped me since last year and we make some big, big improvements, especially over the winter. I’m very happy with that.
GateDrop: People do forget but when you were on an 85cc you did battle with Kay de Wolf and Kay Karssemakers in the Netherlands, they’ve did better than you on the international stage so far, has that been frustrating for you that you haven’t shown your true potential yet at the GPs?
Smulders: I’ve been racing them since the 50cc days, and we were always in a battle until the 85cc. After that, we all split up and went different directions. Kay de Wolf, he went to Nestaan Husqvarna. Kay Karssemakers went to another team, and I went to BT Husqvarna.
On the 85’s, me and Kay (de Wolf) were in the same team (Beursfoon KTM). We were the same height, same weight and everything. They then had a little bit advantage that they started growing and I stayed quite small. My first two years on the 125cc were quite difficult. I was small and light but after that, it got better during in the second year. I started to do a few good races but then also some bad races but there was some potential. In the third year, I was more ready and I needed it because I was not ready for EMX250. That was actually quite a good year for me. I didn’t finish on the podium, but I was like three or four times fourth overall with same points as third. I finished fifth in the EMX125 championship, and I won that year the ADAC 125 championship so you could see my potential. After that, I had a few really tough years but now we start to build back up. I’m now like fully grown and ready to battle with the guys. I’m motivated and that’s important. I’m looking forward.
GateDrop: You’ll also race the ADAC Youngsters Cup – what’s the goal for that series and does that mean you won’t race any of the Dutch Masters?
Smulders: I will be doing the ADAC Youngstres Cup series again because I’m with a German team. I also want to because it’s a good championship with strong riders. In my opinion, it’s a good championship and I enjoy it. I will be doing that with the MX2 World Championship and when I can, I will do some Dutch Masters races as well. I don’t think I will do them all because the year is already so full with all the races but I will do one or two.
I will race the pre season race in Lierop as well so that I can race in the Netherlands, I’m a Dutch guy so I cannot skip all the races in Holland, let’s say. The plan is to do the MX2 World Championship, ADAC Youngsters Cup, some rounds of the Dutch Masters and Lierop. Maybe when there is time and energy left, I will do some more races in Netherlands but that is the plan is for now.
GateDrop: Throughout the season will you be in Germany close to the team or will you mainly stay in the Netherlands where you are most comfortable – how will that work for you?
Smulders: I will be for the most part at home in the Netherlands. I have my practice bike at home, and we will work mainly work from home also because I’m working with Davy. He lives in Netherlands so it’s the easiest. We will do some days riding with the team when they will come over to my house and ride here as well. My main plan is to stay in Netherlands for training but we will also go to Belgium, Germany, North of France to prepare during the season. We make some good things with the team that my practice bike will be serviced every 20 hours at their place and then I will get it back at my house so that’s all no problem.
My mechanic is staying mainly at the workshop because he has to prepare my race bike, my practice bike will be there every 20 hours to get serviced. My mechanic will also come a few times over here to practice with me. I will also go for a few days to their place to do some riding there. It will be a little bit of a mix, but I think we have a good plan, and we will stick to it and see where we end up this year.
