Hard Enduro Hixpania: Román claims home victory – Lettenbichler is world champion

The final round of the 2026 Hard Enduro World Championship in Aguilar de Campoo, northern Spain, once again provided a spectacular show: Mario Román (Husqvarna) won the main event, ‘The Lost Road’, in front of his home crowd – eight years after his first victory in Hixpania. Behind the local hero, Manuel Lettenbichler of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team finished in second place. Manuel had already secured his fifth consecutive World Championship title – and sixth overall – ahead of schedule on Friday following the prologue. Third place went to Billy Bolt (Husqvarna), with Mitch Brightmore (GASGAS) in fourth.

Román staged a textbook comeback. Starting from the seventh row, he worked his way up the field and took the lead. In the closing stages, a fierce battle ensued with Lettenbichler, with the lead changing hands several times before the Spaniard pulled away in the final three laps. In the end, his lead was even enough to allow for a safety refuelling stop without jeopardising his victory.

Mario Román: “Winning in front of my family, my friends and the whole crowd is incredible. I could hardly believe it – it’s hard to believe in yourself when everyone else is riding right at the limit and you don’t have the pace yourself. But this time I knew I had the pace. So I gave it my all, went on the attack straight from the seventh row and overtook everyone. Then there was Manuel, who really put the pressure on – he doesn’t often make mistakes. The lead changed hands between him and me a few times. But the last three laps went really well. It’s brilliant.”

Lettenbichler not with a knife between his teeth

Lettenbichler, who doggedly stuck to the Spaniard’s heels, was unable to match Román’s pace on the day. Once again, the decisive factor was the rocky key sections, where seconds could turn into minutes, particularly due to the riders being lapped. As Manuel had already been confirmed as world champion, he won’t have been racing with a knife between his teeth, but rather focused on crossing the finish line without any major mistakes and injury-free.

We had two or three sections that were quite gruelling because of the rocky steps.

Manuel Lettenbichler

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“It was definitely a pretty good race, and the fans were brilliant – they were all cheering us on,” summed up world champion Lettenbichler. “Mario is the crowd favourite here, the local hero. I tried to catch up with him and make life difficult for him, but he was really strong. I had to push flat out. We had two or three sections that were pretty tough because of the rocky steps. Either you were lucky and managed to build up a lead there, or you lost a lot of time. So yes, I’m pretty satisfied. It was a tough battle. It was definitely a really good, hard race. And races like that are good for our sport.”

For the exceptional Bavarian rider from Kiefersfelden, the final thus turned into a triumph: with 223 points, he finished the season well ahead of Mitch Brightmore (183) and Teodor Kabakchiev (149). The fact that the title had already been decided before the main race did nothing to detract from the main event’s impact – on the contrary, it provided the stage for Mario Román’s home victory.

The promising young German rider Lenny Geretzky from Thuringia, who rides for Román’s SorryBro Junior Team, finished the Junior World Championship in seventh place.

Results: Hard Enduro World Championship, Hixpania, Main Event:

Final standings, Hard Enduro World Championship: