Britain’s Lucy Barker has capped off an impressive 2026 FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship campaign by securing fifth in the final World Championship standings following the WMX finale in Australia.
Images courtesy of Infront Moto Racing
The young Brit headed into the final round at Hidden Valley in Darwin looking to finish her season on a high and did exactly that, recording sixth and fifth-place finishes across the two motos to take sixth overall at the MXGP of Australia.
Those results saw Barker end the season with 153 points and fifth in the World, finishing behind some of the biggest names in women’s motocross, including newly crowned World Champion Daniela Guillen, six-time champion Kiara Fontanesi, former champion Lotte Van Drunen and multiple World Champion Courtney Duncan.
It was a particularly strong end to the weekend for Barker, who battled back from a fall in the second moto to claim fifth place. With Shana Van der Vlist unable to start race two following a crash during the sighting laps, Barker’s result was enough to secure fifth in the final championship standings, 12 points clear of the Dutch rider.
The result rounds out a hugely positive World Championship campaign for the British KTM racer, who celebrated the achievement on social media afterwards.
Barker said: “5th in the world 🌍
“I’m so grateful for everything my small team did for me this year thank you and of course a big thank you to my trainer @kennyvandueren ❤️ We made steps, but also fell short of some goals. Lots of work to be done, can’t wait.”
At the head of the field, Daniela Guillen produced a perfect finale to become the 2026 FIM Women’s Motocross World Champion, winning both races in Australia. The Spaniard arrived at Hidden Valley with just a six-point advantage over six-time champion Kiara Fontanesi, meaning the title was still very much on the line.
Guillen made her intentions clear in Saturday’s opening moto. After starting third, she quickly worked her way past Fontanesi and early leader Nellie Fransson to take control before the end of the opening lap. From there, Guillen raced to victory ahead of Lotte Van Drunen and Courtney Duncan, while Fontanesi could only manage fourth. That extended Guillen’s championship advantage to 13 points heading into the final race of the season.
Race two saw Lachlan Turner make the early running while Guillen initially sat fourth. Fontanesi’s title hopes suffered a major blow when the Italian went down on the opening lap and remounted outside the top ten. Guillen was taking no chances, however. She worked her way through the field, moved into second when Duncan made a mistake and then hunted down Turner. On lap nine, the Spaniard swept into the lead and pulled clear to complete a perfect 1-1 weekend, sealing her first WMX World Championship in style.
After finally securing the World Championship following several seasons of coming close, Guillen was quick to pay tribute to the people who had helped her reach the top.
Daniela Guillen said: “First of all, I want to say thank you my team, RFME, Last Lap, also all my family, my sister, my coach, my trainer, all the people that helped me, because it’s possible thank to them for helping me a lot.
“I’m really happy. I’m so happy also with racing this weekend because I started a little bit off but then I pushed and I won. I think other riders don’t push, but I wanted to push and get the win here in Australia, it was important, so now I am really happy.”
Guillen ended the season on 233 points, 24 clear of Fontanesi on 209. Van Drunen completed the championship top three with 177 points, ahead of Duncan on 167 and Barker on 153.
Results
WMX Race 1 Top 10 Classification: 1. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GASGAS), 24:19.518; 2. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, Yamaha), +0:04.776; 3. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), +0:07.571; 4. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), +0:24.899; 5. Shana Van der Vlist (NED, Yamaha), +0:27.811; 6. Lucy Barker (GBR, KTM), +0:39.093; 7. Alexandra Massury (GER, KTM), +0:56.827; 8. Lachlan Turner (USA, Yamaha), +0:58.187; 9. Nellie Fransson (SWE, Yamaha), +1:08.288; 10. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:10.309.
WMX Race 2 Top 10 Classification: 1. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GASGAS), 23:53.702; 2. Lachlan Turner (USA, Yamaha), +0:02.841; 3. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, Yamaha), +0:19.423; 4. Courtney Duncan (NZL, Kawasaki), +0:26.688; 5. Lucy Barker (GBR, KTM), +1:05.274; 6. Nellie Fransson (SWE, Yamaha), +1:14.222; 7. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GASGAS), +1:32.730; 8. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, Yamaha), +1:36.066; 9. Alexandra Massury (GER, KTM), +1:40.853; 10. Emma Milesevic (AUS, Yamaha), +1:44.578.
WMX Overall Top 10 Classification: 1. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 50 points; 2. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, YAM), 42 p.; 3. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 38 p.; 4. Lachlan Turner (USA, YAM), 35 p.; 5. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 32 p.; 6. Lucy Barker (GBR, KTM), 31 p.; 7. Nellie Fransson (SWE, YAM), 27 p.; 8. Alexandra Massury (GER, KTM), 26 p.; 9. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 24 p.; 10. Emma Milesevic (AUS, YAM), 21 p.
WMX Final World Championship Top 10 Classification: 1. Daniela Guillen (ESP, GAS), 233 points; 2. Kiara Fontanesi (ITA, GAS), 209 p.; 3. Lotte Van Drunen (NED, YAM), 177 p.; 4. Courtney Duncan (NZL, KAW), 167 p.; 5. Lucy Barker (GBR, KTM), 153 p.; 6. Shana Van der Vlist (NED, YAM), 141 p.; 7. Amandine Verstappen (BEL, YAM), 133 p.; 8. Malou Jakobsen (DEN, KTM), 116 p.; 9. Nellie Fransson (SWE, YAM), 99 p.; 10. Alexandra Massury (GER, KTM), 80 p.
WMX Final Manufacturers Classification: 1. GASGAS, 244 points; 2. Yamaha, 201 p.; 3. Kawasaki, 167 p.; 4. KTM, 163 p.; 5. Honda, 119 p.; 6. Husqvarna, 83 p.; 7. TM Moto, 57 p.; 8. Triumph, 32 p.
