History has a beautiful way of echoing itself, and as Autosport reports, Maximo Quiles is the newest name etched into the Moto3 record books. The CFMOTO Aspar rider wrapped up the 2026 Moto3 title with five rounds to spare following a dominant victory in the Indonesian Grand Prix.
Coming to Mandalika, the championship picture looked entirely in his hands with a 127-point buffer over his closest rival David Almansa, while Alvaro Carpe and Brian Uriarte stayed mathematically in the hunt. Quiles simply needed to leave the weekend holding an advantage of 125 points. He followed in the exact footsteps of Jose Antonio Rueda, who also clinched the riders' title at the same venue last year.
The initial signs on Saturday suggested a fight, with his title rivals locking out the front row. Uriarte claimed pole position ahead of Almansa and Carpe, leaving the 18-year-old down in sixth on the grid behind Leopard Racing duo Adrian Fernandez and Guido Pini. None of that grid order mattered once the lights went out, though. Quiles launched himself forward immediately, jumping to third at the start before dispatching Uriarte for second on the opening lap.
Then came the decisive move. He hunted down his chief championship rival Almansa, demoting him at Turn 1 to grab the lead of the race. From that moment on, the rider managed by the Vertical Management company founded by Marc Marquez was completely untouchable. He built a cushion of two seconds in the opening six laps alone before steadily pulling away from the rest of the field.
Crossing the finish line with a margin of 2.9 seconds, Quiles claimed his 10th grand prix win of the year and extended his championship lead to an unassailable 132 points. That masterclass makes him the first Moto3 rider in history to wrap up the championship with five rounds left in a season. Behind him, Almansa finished a comfortable second ahead of Matteo Bertelle, while Uriarte just missed out on a podium finish in fourth.
It was heartbreak for Uriarte’s KTM Ajo team-mate Carpe, who ran in contention for third place until he crashed out of the race with 10 laps remaining, becoming one of the four riders to retire from the Indonesia event. For the champion, this success arrives exactly 16 years after his mentor Marc Marquez clinched the 125cc title in 2010. The rising star will now graduate to Moto2 in 2027, staying right where he belongs with the Aspar team.
