Romano Hummel

Romano Hummel died on the morning of Wednesday 21 October 2026 in Hoogkerk, aged 27. His family announced the death on Facebook. RTV Noord, De Telegraaf and OOG reported that he died suddenly. On 22 October the German motorsport magazine SPEEDWEEK.com reported that he had taken his own life, describing him as a champion who saw no way out. Funeral arrangements and a resting place had not been made public at the time of writing.

The KNMV published an in memoriam wishing strength to his partner Aurélie, his children Keayano and Emelie, his parents Gerke and Tineke and the wider family. The FIM said the FIM family mourned his passing, and FIM Speedway Grand Prix said it was saddened to hear of the passing of a hugely successful international track racer.

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, in the Netherlands you can contact 113 Zelfmoordpreventie by calling 113 or 0800 0113 (free), or chatting at 113.nl. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be reached on 116 123. Elsewhere, please contact your local crisis line.

Romano Hummel was born on 4 January 1999 and grew up in Hoogkerk, a village that is now part of the municipality of Groningen in the north of the Netherlands. His father, Gerke, was a grasstrack racer who competed until 1999, the year Romano was born, and he brought his son into motorsport early. Romano first rode a motorcycle when he was three years old.

He began on small machines and progressed through the youth classes of grasstrack and long track racing. According to the regional broadcaster OOG and the local newspaper De Krant, he became a world champion in both the 125cc and 250cc youth classes. His early years also showed the physical cost of the sport: in 2010, still a child, he broke both lower legs in a heavy crash.

Details of Romano Hummel's schooling have not been made public. His real education was on the track. He trained from the age of three, much of it alongside his father, and practised at circuits in the Netherlands and Germany such as Moorwinkelsdamm, where video from his 2016 training sessions survives. By his own account, preparing a 500cc grasstrack machine was close to a full time job: he said he was busy five days a week getting everything ready for a race weekend.

In 2015 Hummel moved up to the 500cc solo class, the premier division of grasstrack racing. In 2016 he rode shale speedway in Britain for the Berwick Bandits in the Premier League, and he also raced at Dutch speedway meetings. His home, though, was the long, fast ovals of long track and grasstrack.

He won bronze with the Dutch team at the 2017 Team Long Track World Championship. In 2021, in a world championship reduced to two rounds by the COVID-19 pandemic, he scored 19 points at Marmande in France and 13 at Rzeszow in Poland to take the Individual Long Track World Championship with 32 points, ahead of Martin Smolinski and Theo Pijper.

He won the European Grasstrack Championship in 2022 and 2023, and on 24 September 2023 he helped the Netherlands, with Dave Meijerink, Mika Meijer and Jannick de Jong, win the Team Long Track World Championship in Roden. In 2024 he was runner up to Chris Harris in the European final.

In September 2024 he crashed heavily at the Long Track Grand Prix in Vechta, Germany, when a following rider ran over his head after he fell. He was taken to hospital and, after a long rehabilitation, announced his retirement, telling De Telegraaf he had lost the enjoyment because of the pressure he felt. He sold his bikes, but in January 2025 he announced a comeback with new equipment and began riding for the German club MSC Berghaupten. He won at the Whitsun races in Stadskanaal in 2025 and took silver with the Netherlands at the 2025 Long Track of Nations.

On 29 August 2026 he entered the European final in Aduard as a wildcard and won all four of his heats and the A final, ahead of Dave Meijerink and James Shanes, for a third European title. A day later he announced his definitive retirement. After a meeting in Vechta, he rode his last race at the Long Track of Nations at Speed Centre Roden on 20 September 2026, where the Dutch team of Meijerink, Meijer, Hummel and William Kruit won the world title. Across his career he won around 300 international races, according to OOG.

Hummel lived in Hoogkerk with his partner Aurélie. They had two children, a son, Keayano, and a daughter, Emelie, who grew up around the race tracks. His parents are Gerke and Tineke. When he announced his final retirement in 2026 he said the main reason was at home rather than on the track: he wanted to go to his children's football matches on Saturdays, spend time with friends and lead a calmer life.

Off the bike he took up kickboxing to get fit after his comeback, training several times a week, and he fought his first bout at a gala in Groningen on 15 November 2025, losing to Tim Akkerman. Afterwards he wrote on social media that although he had not won, he had gained valuable experience in the ring and thanked his sponsors and training partners.

Hummel spoke openly about risk, pressure and enjoyment. His motto, as quoted by RTV Noord, was that he did not care whether he drove home in his own van or went to hospital in an ambulance. After his 2024 crash he said the pressure and the public criticism of his results had taken away the fun of racing. On his return in 2025 he said he was enjoying the sport again and no longer took risks.

In 2026 he said racing had started to feel more like a burden than a pleasure, and that he wanted rest in his life. He told SPEEDWEEK.com that he had many things on his mind, especially because of his children, and that it was time to get his life back on track.

Hummel is remembered as one of the most successful Dutch riders in the history of track racing and as a crowd favourite in the province of Groningen, where SPEEDWEEK.com called him the rider with the biggest fan club at Aduard. SPEEDWEEK.com described him as a magnificent fighter with a unique riding style: he did not use the textbook left foot in the bends, keeping his leg back while others needed it for balance, and he raced with fluttering fringes on both forearms.

The KNMV called him a phenomenon of the sport, the rider every rival had to beat to have a chance of winning, and a friend to all with a mischievous streak, visible in his start number 666. Stichting Motorsport Roden called his retirement a great loss for track racing. His death, a month after winning a home world title, shocked riders, fans and organisers across Europe.

FIM Individual Long Track World Champion: 2021. FIM Team Long Track World Championship (Long Track of Nations) with the Netherlands: gold 2023 (Roden) and 2026 (Roden), silver 2025, bronze 2017. European Grasstrack Champion: 2022, 2023 and 2026 (Aduard); runner up 2024. Youth world champion in the 125cc and 250cc classes, as reported by OOG and De Krant. Multiple Dutch national titles.

Hummel was a regular on regional broadcaster RTV Noord, whose reporter Henk Elderman covered his wins, his 2024 crash and retirement, and his comeback, and described him on Radio Noord after his death as a rider who always delivered, on the bike and in front of the microphone. Fans filmed and posted many of his races in Aduard, Opende, Staphorst, Eenrum and Roden to YouTube. A fan made song, Romano Hummel: De Comeback Koning, celebrated his return to racing. His kickboxing debut was promoted with an AI generated trailer and a weigh in at which he posed with his long track bike.