Maximo Quiles interview
Máximo Quiles remembers crying on his bed when Marc Márquez crashed.
Watching races on television with his family, he had become completely invested in the fortunes of the rider who would eventually become his mentor. He remembers the battles with Valentino Rossi, the falls and victories, and the frustration of seeing his hero hit the ground.
Máximo Quiles
“I remember crying on the bed, saying, ‘Come on! Why, Marc?’ I was really passionate.”
Now Quiles has a world championship crown of his own. The 18-year-old secured the 2026 Moto3 crown in Indonesia with five races remaining, and will move into Moto2 with CFMOTO Aspar in 2027.
Speaking with MCNews.com.au at Phillip Island, however, he said it was the memories and small details of his life between races that helped explain the rider behind those achievements. The childhood fan remains grateful for Márquez’s support. He also has a clear idea about how he wants to approach his own career.
Máximo Quiles
“Normally I go my own way. I want to be myself.”
A family passion
Motorcycle racing was already part of family life before Quiles began finding his own way around a circuit. His father had raced 80 cc motorcycles as an amateur in Spain, including at the La Bañeza street races.
Quiles says his father eventually stopped racing, having lacked encouragement from his own parents to keep pursuing it. The enthusiasm survived, though, and watching racing together helped pass it on to the next generation.
Máximo Quiles
“We used to watch races on the TV, and there it started all. I saw the bikes and I said, ‘I want to be like them.’”
Asked who first captured his imagination, Quiles gives an immediate answer: Marc.
That attachment makes his present relationship with the Márquez brothers particularly significant. Marc and Álex can offer the perspective of riders who have already navigated the demands of Grand Prix racing, while Quiles is still learning how to manage the attention and expectations that come with his own progress.
The relationship also extends into the business side of racing. Quiles is represented by Vertical Management, the agency Marc and Álex founded in Madrid in 2022 with Jaime “Jimmy” Martínez Recasens. The company represents all three riders, with services spanning career, sponsorship, image and communications management. The brothers’ involvement therefore extends from the personal advice and training support Quiles values to the professional organisation helping guide his future in the sport.
Both are represented by Vertical Management, which Marc co-founded with Álex Márquez and Jaime Martínez Recasens.
Growing up under pressure
When I asked about adapting to the competition in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, Quiles quickly identified what had made those years difficult. The challenge he remembered most was mental.
He competed alongside older riders, made the mistakes that come with learning, and felt his youth and inexperience weren’t always taken into account. His association with Marc was already part of his life, too.
Máximo Quiles
“I was growing with older riders and I was the youngest, and I was really pressured.
“I was really young. I was with Marc. I made many errors. People didn’t understand that I was the youngest and I was a rookie, so I was really, really pressured.”
Looking back, he values what that experience taught him. He credits it with making him stronger and helping shape the rider he has become.
That matters when considering the next step. A dominant Moto3 season gives him confidence to take into Moto2, but he has already experienced the discomfort of being young, scrutinised and still learning.
Advice from a childhood hero
Quiles recognises different personalities in Marc and Álex, although he is more interested in the purpose of their advice than in comparing the brothers.
Máximo Quiles
“They are different personalities, of course, but they want the best for me, and this is important.
“They tell it a different way, but I always keep the message. They help a lot outside and inside the track.”
During a Grand Prix weekend, each has his own work to do. Quiles says they generally speak relatively little then. He concentrates on his own racing, with the reassurance that he can ask for help when he needs it.
In Indonesia, he wanted to speak with Marc. They found time for a video call because they had not managed to have that conversation in the paddock.
Quiles had settled the race with a last-lap pass on Rico Salmela.
It is a revealing detail about how the relationship works: a rider whose results once had Quiles in tears is now someone he can turn to when he wants advice.
Home, recovery and a different training approach
After the intensity of securing the championship, Quiles wants to enjoy it with his family and the Aspar team. Celebrating has its place, and so does simply being calm at home.
Máximo Quiles
“Enjoy, relax, go a bit of party with all the team, with the Aspar team and all my family, and enjoy these days. I’ve been really stressed.
“I want to stay calm at home. But I enjoy it as well. It’s my job, and it’s part of the game.”
Sharing the achievement with those around him was high on his list after a stressful campaign.
The space between races can disappear quickly. On consecutive European rounds, he might arrive home on Sunday night and leave again on Wednesday. Monday can be devoted to physiotherapy, with a gym session fitted in on Tuesday if time allows.
When a longer break comes, his priorities include cycling and gym work. Extra motorcycle mileage has a more selective place in his routine.
Máximo Quiles
“I don’t like to train with the bike a lot because it’s like a fake feeling. I’m not going to race with this bike.
“I normally want to go race by race with the Moto3. I do bicycle, I do gym, I do all this stuff. When I touch a bike, it’s in pre-season when there are many months.”
His approach centres on keeping his reference with the motorcycle he is actually racing. During the longer pre-season, there is more room for riding other bikes.
Those sessions can bring him together with Dani Holgado, David Alonso, his team-mates and the Márquez brothers. Marc and Álex have yet to join him in Murcia, something he would like to change.
When I suggest that he wants them there because he thinks he can beat them on home ground, he readily agrees.
Growing into Moto2
This winter will bring a change in emphasis. Quiles’ move to Moto2 with CFMOTO Aspar gives him a reason to build strength and some additional weight.
Quiles is now preparing for his next step as Moto3 World Champion.
He explains that his size already puts him at a disadvantage in Moto3. Adding muscle means adding weight, so his current class places a constraint on how far he can develop that side of his physical preparation.
Máximo Quiles
“Now I’m a bit limited because I cannot get a lot of muscle, a lot of weight. I’m over the weight already.
“I’m a bit at a disadvantage, so it’s something that I want to start training hard to get stronger, and I think it will be good.”
His experience on a 600 has given him encouragement about riding a larger motorcycle. He likes the feeling and, specifically, the bigger tyre.
Moving to Moto2 will allow him to build more strength without the same concern about adding muscle and weight.
The step will still demand patience. Asked what a successful first Moto2 season would look like, Quiles makes his competitive instinct clear.
Máximo Quiles
“In my mind is win. This is why I’m here.”
His ambition stretches to becoming “one of the greatest”. Alongside that goal is an acceptance that the route will include difficult weekends and lessons he has yet to learn.
Máximo Quiles
“There are going to come bad moments, difficult moments, but I think I’m prepared. We will have to suffer for sure.
“We have to keep our feet on the floor always, from the beginning of the season.”
The boy who cried over Marc Márquez’s crashes has grown into a world champion with ambitions of his own. For now, there is a title to enjoy with his family, followed by a winter of work before he starts again as a rookie.
