Mario Román: Spanish hard-enduro rider and 2026 Hixpania winner

Mario Román is a Spanish hard-enduro rider from Madrid. On Sunday, 25 October 2026, he won "The Lost Road", the main race of the Hixpania round, which was the final round of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship [2] [1]. The event was held around Aguilar de Campoo in Palencia province [3]. He finished in 2:11:18.43, about a minute ahead of Manuel Lettenbichler, who had already clinched his sixth world title and his fifth in a row [1] [4].

A win from seventh on the grid

Román started the main race from the seventh row and took the lead in the closing stages [2]. The weekend had started more quietly. He finished eighth in Friday's SuperEncierro and seventh in Saturday's Campoo Xtreme [4]. Speedweek describes the Sunday win as coming eight years after his first Hixpania victory [2].

In the final overall standings he finished sixth [3] [4]. Lettenbichler, who won the title before the last round, finished second on the day [1].

From Sherco to his own team

From 2017 to 2025 Román rode for Sherco. In 2026 he races a Husqvarna TE 300 for his own MR74 Racing Team [5]. His rider profile lists his best world championship result as runner-up in the 2022 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship [5].

Results outside the world championship

The same rider profile lists third place at the Red Bull Romaniacs in 2024 and 2025, and a win in the Adventure Ultimate class at the 2026 edition on a CFMOTO 450MT [5]. It also lists third place at the Red Bull Erzbergrodeo in 2024 and 2026, second place at Hixpania in 2023 and 2024, and fifth place there in 2025 [5]. In a February 2018 article, Telemadrid described him as a Madrid rider and a world champion in Enduro Extremo, aged 28 at the time [7].

Birth date, birthplace and nationality

His rider profile gives his birth date as 17 January 1990, his birthplace as Madrid, and his nationality as Spain [5]. That makes him 36 at the time of writing. A 2024 interview published by Palencia en la Red quotes him as 34 years old, which fits that birth year [6]. Palencia en la Red describes him as the top Spanish representative in the world hard-enduro championship [6].

Titles and the record

The accounts of his titles do not match. Palencia en la Red reports that he became European champion in his first full hard-enduro season, 2015, and world champion in 2019 [6]. His rider profile lists a runner-up place in the 2022 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship and does not list a 2019 world title [5]. This page does not repeat the 2019 title claim until a source the championship organisers publish confirms it.

Wins and podiums away from the world championship

The rider profile lists his wins as Hell's Gate Metzeler in 2018, Alestrem in 2018, and again in 2020 and 2022, EL INKA Hard Enduro in 2019, and the Toyota Porto Extreme XL Lagares in 2019 [5]. It also lists a 2019 win at Sea to Sky, and third at GetzenRodeo in 2023 and second in 2025 [5]. In 2026 the profile records fourth place at Alestrem and fifth at Abestone [5]. These results show a rider who races across the hard-enduro calendar, not only the world series.

The 2026 season in numbers

His weekend in Aguilar de Campoo was eighth, seventh and first across the three days, with the win coming in the Sunday main race [4] [2]. Over the whole 2026 championship he ended sixth, and the title went to Manuel Lettenbichler [3] [4].