MOTO3 LEADER MAXIMO QUILES SET FOR 2027 MOTOGP CLASS STEP-UP

Maximo Quiles has climbed quickly through motorcycle racing’s junior ranks and is now leading the Moto3 championship with CFMoto Aspar. The 18-year-old Spaniard is set to remain with the team when he moves up to Moto2 in 2027, continuing a progression that began on two wheels when he was six.

Born Maximo Martinez Quiles in Murcia on March 19, 2008, he races under a Spanish licence. He later dropped “Martinez” from his racing name before his second Red Bull Rookies Cup campaign. A 2023 report said the change was linked to his initials, MMar, which closely echoed those of his mentor Marc Marquez.

Quiles collected national and international mini-bike titles before entering Spain’s Moto4 championship at 12. At 13, he won the European Talent Cup, then became its first rider to claim the title twice, adding a second crown two years later while also stepping into the Rookies Cup. His results there included third-place championship finishes in 2022 and 2023, followed by fifth in 2024. In JuniorGP that year, he finished third overall.

He made his Grand Prix breakthrough in 2025, winning three Moto3 races and taking nine podiums to finish third in the standings with 274 points. His first Grand Prix victory came at the Italian Grand Prix, aged 17 years and 95 days. That was a landmark win, though not the youngest in the category’s history: Can Oncu holds that record after winning the 2018 Valencian Moto3 race at 15 years and 115 days.

Quiles is the first rider selected by Vertical Management, the talent agency founded by Marc and Alex Marquez. Initially set up to handle the brothers’ image rights and commercial interests, it later expanded to represent emerging Grand Prix riders. The arrangement gives Quiles access to guidance and coaching from the two world champions as he pursues a career at the sport’s highest level.

He races with number 28, a number he has kept throughout his rise whenever it was available. MotoGP’s rider profile lists him at 172 centimetres tall and 55 kilograms. His net worth has not been publicly disclosed, although his representation by Vertical Management reflects his profile as a promising young prospect.