Daniela Guillen's dream debut in AMA WMX, extra boost for her world title hopes

It’s a star-spangled super debut for Daniela Guillen, who takes home her first podium in AMA WMX. An extra boost heading into the upcoming World Championship grand finale.

A debut in the American series that truly made noise. Daniela Guillen made her first AMA WMX appearance one to remember with a superb third place overall in the final round of the 2026 season. A remarkable result for the Spaniard who, after reclaiming the red plates at the penultimate World round in Arnhem, definitely made her mark at Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Just as Lotte van Drunen managed earlier this year—unlucky in her first wild card but then onto the podium in her second U.S. outing. An added satisfaction and charge for the world title showdown, with an entire country dreaming of a historic achievement by what is already its greatest motocrosser ever.

It was the weekend of a potential third consecutive crown for Lachlan Turner, who this time finished 4th overall, right behind the Spanish debutant, determined to make a statement in her first AMA WMX outing aboard a GASGAS MC 250 prepared by the Wildcat Race Team. Second in Qualifying 1 and third in Qualifying 2 due to a crash, Guillen then launched into the two races (12 minutes plus one lap). In the first moto she finished 2nd, benefiting from a Turner slide (who remounted and crossed the line 6th). All this happened on Friday the 28th; Saturday the 29th was the second and final race of the weekend: her start this time was far from ideal and the Spaniard found herself outside the top 10 right away, then charged back through the field to take the checkers in third place. That gave her 42 points total, tied with Mayla Herrick, who however edged her overall thanks to 2nd place in Moto 2.

For the overall win, Charli Cannon dominated with a double victory, which still wasn’t enough to snatch the title from Turner. But as noted, the third step of the podium in this AMA WMX finale went to Daniela Guillen, author of a stellar debut in the star-spangled series. "A dream come true! I’m so happy and grateful to the team, who treated me incredibly well," said the Spanish rider. "Everyone kept telling me to ‘be careful’ or to ‘take it easy,’ since in the end my real battle is in Europe, to win the world title." As for her U.S. challenge, the takeaway can only be positive, with one wish: "We finished third in my first race in the WMX class here in the United States. I couldn’t be happier and I can’t wait to come back and race here in the future."

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