The CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider will compete in the final races of the season without the pressure of fighting for the title
Máximo Quiles was a threat to his rivals when the title was still up for grabs. Now, with no pressure whatsoever after clinching it in Indonesia with five races to go, the CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider will be able to take it one race at a time, focusing on winning without having to worry about a title he’s already secured. Ten wins and 15 podium finishes in 17 races – 16 if you exclude the race he missed in Great Britain due to a collarbone injury – have allowed him to arrive in Australia with a sufficient lead to have already been crowned Moto3 world champion. But the Spanish rider, the tenth-youngest rider in history to be crowned world champion, still has challenges ahead of him. Those ten victories place him in an exclusive group of riders who have achieved a decade of wins in a single season, such as Fausto Gresini (1987), Marc Márquez (2010), Joan Mir (2017) and José Antonio Rueda (2025). Ahead of him? Valentino Rossi, with 11 in 1997, and his team-mate at the CFMOTO Aspar Team, David Alonso, who achieved 14 in 2024. Furthermore, if he makes it onto the podium at Phillip Island – where he finished fifth last year – he would become the Moto3 rider with the most top-three finishes in a single season, with 16.
Marco Morelli heads into this second leg of the non-European races – which continues next week in Malaysia – aiming to recapture the positive form of the first half of the season and put the bitter taste of the races in Japan and Indonesia behind him. As if the CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team needed any further incentive, this Australian Grand Prix will be the last to be held at the historic Phillip Island circuit, the scene of so many memorable battles across all three categories. The charm of the venerable circuit, situated two hours from Melbourne, will be replaced in 2027 by the brand-new street circuit in Adelaide, the capital of the neighbouring state of South Australia.
Máximo Quiles: “It’s wonderful to be able to travel to Australia as a world champion. It’s going to be a special weekend, the last time we’ll race at Phillip Island, but we’re going to keep the same mindset and stay just as focused, as if we hadn’t won the title, so we can pursue our goals each day and each Grand Prix.”
Marco Morelli: “Marco Morelli: “Phillip Island is a circuit I already know, so that could help us. It’s a very fast track and we’ll have to adapt to it, although the most important thing for me is to get that good feeling back when riding. I’ve been struggling to achieve that in recent races, but I’m sure that, if we manage to do that, we’ll be able to get a good result. That’s going to be my top priority for the weekend.”
