Maximo Quiles of the CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team is the 2026 Moto3 World Champion. The #28 secured the crown with a stylish win at the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia, showing incredible pace and expert racecraft all season. In doing so, he joins an elite group, becoming only the fourth rider in history to win a championship in any class with five races remaining, alongside Marc Marquez, Giacomo Agostini, and Mike Hailwood.
Born in 2008, Quiles started on minibikes before rising through the Spanish ranks and making his European Cup debut in 2021. His rookie season brought three victories and five podiums. He returned to the top step in 2022 and claimed the 2023 European Cup crown with Aspar after taking five wins. A switch to the Moto3 Junior World Championship followed in 2024, where he won the season finale to finish third in the standings. Across three seasons in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, he picked up seven wins and finished third in the championship twice, prompting Aspar to sign him for the 2025 Moto3 World Championship.
His rookie world championship campaign started late at COTA because he was initially too young for the opening two rounds. After a fifth-place debut, a training crash forced him to miss another two rounds before returning in France. He earned podiums at Silverstone and Aragon and took his maiden win at Mugello, ending 2025 with three wins, nine podiums, and two pole positions.
The 2026 season began with four wins from the opening six races and two further podiums. Victories in Hungary and Assen pushed his championship lead to 104 points before the summer break in Germany. A Q2 crash at Silverstone resulted in a broken collarbone that sidelined him for the rest of that weekend, but he responded by winning the very next round at MotorLand Aragon. Consecutive victories at Misano and Austria stretched his lead to 131 points and set up a first match point in Japan, amid confirmation that he will move to Moto2 next season.
His first match point in Motegi yielded a second-place finish under pressure, as closest title rival David Almansa of the Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP mounted a last stand to delay the coronation. That final moment arrived at the Indonesian GP, where Quiles stayed at the front from the start, avoided a massive group fight for the podium, and kept his machine calm to the line to claim his 10th win of the season and take the title.
