GUILLEN SHOWS DOMINANCE AND CONFIRMED HER GREAT FORM IN GERMANY

The second round of the 2026 FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship at the Liqui Moly MXGP of Germany delivered everything that makes WMX special — speed, drama, crashes, comebacks and emotion, with RFME Spain National Team’s Daniela Guillen producing a flawless weekend at the iconic Talkessel circuit to claim a dominant 1-1 and extend her championship lead. Fonta Racing’s Kiara Fontanesi matched her with a 2-2 to sit just six points behind in the standings, while Shana Van Der Vlist was the revelation of the weekend with a superb third overall.

The weekend was also marked by a deeply emotional moment as German legend Larissa Papenmeier raced what is expected to be her final Grand Prix on home soil, receiving a thunderous farewell from the Teutschenthal crowd.

WMX Start Germany 2026

In race 1, Daniela Guillen made the perfect start from pole position and immediately set about building a gap at the front. Behind her, the early laps were far from straightforward, with the reigning World Champion De Baets-AIT Yamaha Supported Team’s Lotte Van Drunen making an aggressive charge through the field picking off Kiara Fontanesi and then Guillen in quick succession to take the lead on lap 7 of 12.

However, Guillen refused to yield. Staying glued to van Drunen’s rear wheel and applying relentless pressure, she forced the Dutch champion into a mistake. Van Drunen went down, handing the lead back to Guillen, who never looked back.

With Van Drunen out of contention at the front, Fontanesi took up the chase and aided by the presence of backmarkers, closed the gap to the leader. But Guillen responded with authority, managing the race with composure to ultimately win by just over two seconds. JK Racing Yamaha’s Nellie Fransson made an impressive start to run inside the top although she faded away and finished 16th.

Dixon Racing Team Kawasaki’s Courtney Duncan ran a solid and disciplined race to claim third, coming off from an average start to climb back up to fourth before Van Drunen’s fall, which gave her a free postion up into third in the end. Van Drunen ultimately had to settle for fourth. TEAM Honda Motoblouz SR Motul’s April Franzoni had a race to forget, suffering a poor start compounded by a crash in the opening corners.

If Race 1 had been compelling, Race 2 delivered drama from the very first corner. Once again Guillen nailed the start from pole, but within the opening laps the race was turned on its head by a major crash involving Van Drunen. The defending champion collided with Amandine Verstappen in the air and came down hard. The positive news was that Van Drunen eventually remounted and what followed was one of the rides of the weekend, as she fought back from the very back of the field to ultimately cross the line 18th and salvage three championship points in a remarkable recovery. Fransson, meanwhile, repeated her strong opening lap from Race 1 to once again surge into the top ten from the gate, producing another accomplished ride.

At the front, Guillen was untouchable. By the midpoint of the race she had already built a lead of nearly ten seconds over Fontanesi, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process and never once coming under genuine threat. She crossed the line to complete a perfect 1-1 weekend.

Behind her, the real story was the impressive ride van der Vlist. The Dutchwoman picked up three postion throughout the race and held firm under pressure from Verstappen to claim her best WMX of the year, crossing the line third and securing the final podium position. Verstappen finished fourth in another solid showing.

D.V.S Junior Racing’s Lynn Valk had her sights set on the podium in the closing laps but could not find a way past Verstappen in the final exchanges, settling for fifth. Young british Lucy Barker continued her strong form with sixth, while Papenmeier riding in what might be her final one in Germany after a career stretching back to 2008 finished seventh to an emotional and resounding reception from the German fans. The scenes at the end of the race were deeply moving, with Papenmeier waving to the crowd and the Talkessel reverberating with applause.

Duncan, who had been running well in the top five, suffered a crash mid-race that dropped her down the order and ultimately limited her to tenth. Malou Jakobsen continued her consistent start to the season with eighth, while Franzoni recovered strongly from her Race 1 difficulties to take ninth.

In the end Daniela Guillen confirms her red plate and sent a message to the concurrence with a dominant 1-1 in Germany. The next round in Great Britain will be another exciting episode of the 2026 WMX season.

Daniela Guillen: “It’s a good weekend for me, two hole shots and two race wins. I’m really happy. I think I’m doing a good job and that’s the important thing. Thank you to the team.”

Kiara Fontanesi: “It seems like I’m the winner of second place at the moment. But it’s still very important to be super consistent. I’m just six points behind, the championship is very tight. It seems like me and Daniela will have to fight till the end again this year. I gave everything I had and I can’t regret anything because I gave my 100%.”

Shana van der Vlist: It was very unexpected for me to be on the podium. I had a good start, went a little wide on the first corner, worked my way through, and I could pass Amandine [Verstappen] and finish third. When I crossed the finish line and realised I was on the podium, I was very happy.”

1. Kiara Fontanesi; 2. Shana van der Vlist

WMX – Race 1 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GASGAS), 25:54.370; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), +0:02.131; 3. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), +0:38.6Sunny; 4. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, Yamaha), +0:47.295; 5. Malou Jakobsen (DEN, KTM), +1:00.091; 6. Lynn Valk (NED, TM), +1:01.186; 7. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Honda), +1:02.095; 8. Lucy Barker (GBR, KTM), +1:09.358; 9. Shana Van Der Vlist (NED, Yamaha), +1:10.570; 10. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:12.4 Fastest lap: Lotte Van Drunen – 2:02.400 (lap 3)

WMX – Race 2 – Top 10 Classification: 1. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GASGAS), 25:16.754; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), +0:08.005; 3. Shana Van Der Vlist (NED, Yamaha), +0:13.093; 4. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +0:17.254; 5. Lynn Valk (NED, TM), +0:20.539; 6. Lucy Barker (GBR, KTM), +0:36.290; 7. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, Honda), +0:37.686; 8. Malou Jakobsen (DEN, KTM), +0:38.636; 9. April Franzoni (FRA, Honda), +0:43.089; 10. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), +1:05.287. Fastest lap: Daniela Guillen – 1:59.725 (lap 2)

WMX Overall – Top 10 Classification: 1. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 50 points; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 44 p.; 3. Shana van der Vlist (NED, YAM), 32 p.; 4. Lynn Valk (NED, TM), 31 p.; 5. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 31 p.; 6. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 29 p.; 7. Malou Jakobsen (DEN, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Lucy Barker (GBR, KTM), 28 p.; 9. Larissa Papenmeier (GER, HON), 28 p.; 10. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, YAM), 21 p.

WMX World Championship – Top 10 Classification: 1. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 97 points; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 91 p.; 3. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 58 p.; 4. Malou Jakobsen (DEN, KTM), 58 p.; 5. Shana van der Vlist (NED, YAM), 57 p.; 6. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 57 p.; 7. Lynn Valk (NED, TM), 57 p.; 8. Lucy Barker (GBR, KTM), 57 p.; 9. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, YAM), 53 p.; 10. April Franzoni (FRA, HON), 49 p.

WMX Manufacturers – Top 10 Classification: 1. GASGAS, 100 points; 2. Yamaha, 73 p.; 3. Honda, 64 p.; 4. KTM, 64 p.; 5. Kawasaki, 58 p.; 6. TM, 57 p.; 7. Husqvarna, 26 p.; 8. Triumph, 14 p

WMX Podium Germany 2026