Twan Smits

Twan Smits is a 22-year-old Dutch rider from Steenwijk. He races with number 85 for Team Apreco on a Yamaha R1 in the EURO MOTO Superbike championship, and competes in the FIM Endurance World Championship for Motobox Kremer Racing by 321. He is part of the Yamaha BLU CRU programme.

2026

Smits took his first EURO MOTO Superbike pole position in August at Assen and won both races at his home round. A second double win followed at the Nürburgring in September. Four wins in a row. He goes into the Hockenheimring finale on 25–27 September third in the championship, 22 points behind second place.

In April he made his Superbike World Championship debut at Assen on a wildcard, on a seventh Yamaha R1 run by Team Apreco on EURO MOTO-specification machinery. He set a personal best of 1:34.2 at the circuit and finished 21st in the first race.

In July he raced the Suzuka 8 Hours with Motobox Kremer Racing by 321. After team-mate Lennox Lehmann was injured, Smits rode the remaining distance together with Dirk Geiger in heavy rain. The pair finished 18th overall and 13th in class, with the fastest Dunlop team lap to his name.

How it began

Smits started racing minibikes in 2015 and progressed through the Molenaar NSF 100 Cup and, in 2018, the Dutch R3 Cup. Evert Blom, who ran Team Apreco, spotted him early and became his mentor.

He raced IDM Supersport 300 and the Supersport 300 World Championship before stepping up to Supersport 600, where he took eight podiums in his debut season. He won the 2023 Supersport 600 championship, but the title was taken away after the season following a protest.

2024 started badly, with a string of crashes and no results. In March that year, Evert Blom died at the age of 69. The season turned around later on, when Yamaha Germany came forward with an offer: a Superbike seat backed by Yamaha, Apreco and Ten Kate Racing Products. He closed out his first IDM Superbike season with two top-ten finishes and a seat in the Endurance World Championship.

Next step

The 2026 EURO MOTO Superbike title will be decided in September at Hockenheim. The long-term goal is a full-time seat in the Superbike World Championship.