Daniela Guillén is the first Spanish rider to win the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship, claiming the 2026 title with the RFME Spain National Team after four consecutive seasons on the podium. She came up through a sport that was not built for her, on limited resources, and made it to the top anyway.

EARLY YEARS

Guillén was born in 2006 in Blanes, in the Girona province of Catalonia, and grew up between Blanes and Lloret de Mar. [1] [2] The start of her racing life had nothing to do with family ambition. A friend of her mother gave the family a small motorcycle when Daniela was around three years old. She went out to try it with her siblings and took to it more than any of them. As she put it: “Una amiga de mi madre nos regaló una moto. Fui a probarla con mis hermanos y a mi me gustó más que a ellos.” [3] She recalls being at a circuit around age five with a group of friends she had made and simply having a good time: “Recuerdo con 5 años aproximadamente estar en un circuito con la cuadrilla de amigos que habíamos hecho y pasarlo muy bien.” [3] She began competing formally at six, initially in fields made up almost entirely of boys. [4]

Her family supported her, but she has been straightforward about the financial reality: they were, in her words, a humble family without the resources to fund world-championship participation. [5] That situation did not fully resolve itself with success — she told El Periódico after winning the 2026 title that she still could not make a living from motocross despite competing at the sport’s highest level. [5] In 2021, the Spanish and Catalan motorcycling federations offered her an elite-athlete scholarship at the Sant Cugat high-performance centre, where she combined training with her secondary-school studies — she was in her third year of ESO at the time. [6]

Racing alongside boys from a young age left its marks. She has said that competing in mixed fields made her feel like “one more” on the track, but she also recalls hearing remarks from the sidelines — things like “How can a girl beat you?” from parents of male competitors — which she tried to block out. [1] She told El Periódico in 2026 that being a woman in a male-dominated sport was “complicadísimo,” and that as a young rider it was genuinely difficult to tell whether people approaching her wanted to help or were using her. [5] She has also said there was a point at which she nearly quit over external pressures, and that those who believed in her made it possible to continue. [5] Coach Xevi Colomer and fellow Spanish WMX racer Gabriela Seisdedos are among those identified as key supporters: Colomer coached her through her development, while Seisdedos shared advice drawn from her own experience at world-championship level. [1]

OTHER INTERESTS

Off the bike, she describes herself as a normal girl who would rather go unnoticed, and says she values spending time with friends. [5] She has mentioned an interest in tattoos, and after winning the 2026 world title she was considering getting one connected to the achievement. [5] Cycling features in her training routine. [7]

EARLY SUCCESS

Guillén made her FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship debut in 2021, riding for the RFME WMX Team on a KTM, and finished ninth in the championship. [8] The following year she slipped to thirteenth in the WMX standings, but 2022 also brought a team achievement: Spain, with Guillén in the squad, won the Motocross of European Nations in the women’s category. [8]

The step forward came in 2023. Riding a GASGAS for the RFME Spain National Team, she finished second in the WMX World Championship and took her first round win at Riola Sardo in Sardinia. [8] That same year she told 20minutos: “Mi sueño es ser campeona del mundo y creo que estamos cerca de poder conseguirlo.” [3] She backed that result up in 2024, again finishing second in the championship and adding a round win at Afyon in Türkiye. [8] In 2025, she stepped onto the championship podium for the third consecutive year, this time finishing third. [9]

The title arrived in 2026. Racing again for RFME Spain National Team on a GASGAS, she accumulated 233 points across the season and sealed the championship at the final round in Darwin, Australia, on September 20, 2026, winning both races on the day. [10] MXGP noted she had been “a real force to be reckoned with in 2026,” pointing to her opening-round win and a double race win in Germany earlier in the season. [9] She became the first Spanish rider ever to win the WMX world title. [10]

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2022: Spain wins the Motocross of European Nations, women’s category [8].
• 2023: WMX World Championship runner-up; first WMX round win at Riola Sardo, Sardinia [8].
• 2024: WMX World Championship runner-up; round win at Afyon, Türkiye [8].
• 2025: WMX World Championship third overall [9].
• 2026: FIM Women’s Motocross World Champion with 233 points; won both races at the Darwin final round; first Spanish WMX world champion [10].

INSPIRATIONS

Guillén has cited Laia Sanz — Spain’s most decorated off-road motorcycle racer — as a reference point when talking about her long-term ambitions, specifically the Dakar Rally. [1] Closer to her daily reality, coach Xevi Colomer and compatriot Gabriela Seisdedos played meaningful roles in her development, the latter offering practical guidance from her own experience in the WMX world championship. [1]

REPUTATION

MXGP described Guillén as “a real force to be reckoned with in 2026,” highlighting her performance across the season from the opening round through to her double race win in Germany and ultimately the title-clinching weekend in Darwin. [9] The series named her its 2026 WMX World Champion in its end-of-season awards, with the championship concluding on September 20, 2026. [11]

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

After securing the 2026 world title, she said she hoped the achievement would draw attention to the sport’s economic conditions for women and help bring about change. [5] She has previously named riding the Dakar Rally as a longer-term ambition, pointing to Laia Sanz as an example of what is possible. [1]

References:

[1] Relevo
[2] El Periódico (September 23, 2026)
[3] 20minutos
[4] Efeminista
[5] El Periódico (September 26, 2026)
[6] Marca
[7] Relevo
[8] MXGP – Daniela Guillen rider profile
[9] MXGP – Behind the Gate interview
[10] MXGP – WMX championship
[11] MXGP – 2026 Awards