Sandra Gomez – Extreme/Hard Enduro World Championship rider, Red Bull Romaniacs Gold Class finisher (first female ever), Spanish Women Trials Champion 2x, Spanish Trials Des Nations rider 5x, and FIM World Women’s Trials Championship runner-up 3x. Add on- warrior blazing trail for future women to race most extreme Motorsport disciplines in the world.
It is not just Sandra’s courage of conviction that competing in toughest of sports can be done- making it happen, achieving results, improving step-by-step to race Pro at FIM Hard Enduro World Championship in Portugal, May 7-9 finishing 13th in Final Pro Group 2 has taken guts.
Not normally spoken about in Media circles on how women compete against males whose physical differences of muscle strength and power outweigh females- Sandra’s results prove self-belief, work ethic, and mental stamina are cornerstones for accomplishment.
Sandra: ‘I am a rider who wants to make step by step progress to race. I train as much as I can to perform my best when racing but in Hard Enduro races..you never know what is coming! So you need to be ready for many things. This is what happened in Lagares, FIM Hard Enduro World Championship Round One, when the main race was canceled on Thursday night and we competed that “endurocross” full of mud’.
‘I expected a long day on the mountains racing along rivers. I have never competed before in Lagares but I saw videos and watched the race two years ago. I always think I will arrive at the finish (this is the dream in all races) even when I compete in the crazy Pro class; and for now it’s my goal’.
Put in context, FIM Hard Enduro World Championship combined with WESS (World Enduro Super Series) for next 4 years, provides Series platform whereby the world’s best technically trained riders compete on level playing fields within categories relative to their expertise. Progression in upwards trajectory remains hard won, with females making few numbers on start-line and even fewer at finish. Sandra’s founding principles of racing such Championship events rest on crossing the finish line- which the Spanish rider achieved in 2020 Red Bull Romaniacs Gold Class.
Sandra: ‘Personally and honestly I didn’t believe I finished that hell race! Still one week after the race I was sleeping being in the Romanian forest pushing the bike. I felt very proud of myself because one year ago I saw how difficult it was’.
‘I spent all the year training for that race and tried to finish more days than the year before but during the race I only was thinking- don’t stop and to go step by step. Even on the last day I decided to- don’t dream about the finish line’.
Sandra’s training would test any Olympic Games medalist to give-it-a-go. To master one discipline is hard enough, 2- well test just got harder, 3- off the scale when comes to changing riding form from Trails bike, to Hard Enduro, all the while re-defining how to push skills to the limit. Red Bull Romaniacs consisted of 9-12 hour days x4 on the bike, up vertical terrain, over mountainous ravines which only goats would pass.
Sandra: ‘The motorcycle is my comfy place, is my favourite place to be. I think this is important if you want to finish races such as Romaniacs because you need to be on the bike for hours clocking up long days of training for that one race’.
‘I started (and still fight in the World Championship) in Trials. It’s my everything competing in Hard Enduro, with out that technique for me racing would be impossible! But also a Hard Enduro rider needs to train with velocity (mx, enduro,..). Coming from trials I need to train a lot of velocity and also a lot of power. It’s not a secret on how to be a good rider you just need to train hard. I don’t think I am a woman and I can’t- or that there is not more women competing in Hard Enduro in Pro…etc. I just do what makes me happy and I train hard for my dreams. I am lucky I have people around who believe in me, but also people who tell me that the dream maybe is too much and then I train harder’.
Special thanks to Sandra for her time. Header Photo: Sandra Gomez FIM Hard Enduro Championship opening Round Extreme XL Lagares, May 7-9. Photo Credit: @mihaibirca77
Words: Sharon Cox.
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