Spain's Moto Dominance
Spanish Riders Maximo, Manu, and Jorge Lead All Three MotoGP World Championship Categories
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Three Spanish riders now lead every single category of the 2025–26 Motorcycle World Championship. Máximo Quiles tops Moto3, Manu González leads Moto2, and Jorge Martín heads MotoGP — a clean sweep that El Periódico de Aragón calls a "pleno" and a tribute to the legacy of the late Ángel Nieto, Spain's greatest motorcycle racing legend.
The triple leadership became official after race day at the Dutch TT in Assen on June 28, 2026. Quiles won his sixth race of the season. González held his Moto2 lead despite finishing second. And Martín climbed to the top of MotoGP by just 7 points over Marco Bezzecchi, who crashed out at high speed. Not everyone is happy about it.
Quiles Dominates Moto3 With a 90-Point Lead
Máximo Quiles is just 18 years old, and he is already running away with the Moto3 title. The rookie has won six of the first ten races of the season. After Assen, his lead over the rest of the field stands at 90 points, according to La Opinión de Málaga. Rivals would need him to crash out multiple times just to close the gap.
Quiles rides for the CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team — the very academy that shaped Spanish motorcycle talent for decades. He is already being compared to Marc Márquez. His path runs directly through the JuniorGP system, Spain's domestic feeder championship that has produced world-class riders year after year.
Jorge Martín Revives His Career With Aprilia
Jorge Martín's road to the MotoGP lead was not smooth. After a painful split from Ducati in late 2024 and a spell of injuries, he rebuilt with Aprilia Racing. At Assen, Japanese rider Ai Ogura won the race. But Bezzecchi's crash handed Martín the championship lead. His margin is slim — just 7 points — but the momentum is his, according to La Opinión de Murcia.
Manu González, meanwhile, has kept his Moto2 title lead through sheer consistency. He races for Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP. He has outscored rivals like Celestino Vietti and Senna Agius not through big wins, but by finishing on the podium race after race. That reliability now puts him first in the standings.
Liberty Media Offers €200,000 to Teams Hiring Non-Spanish Riders
Not everyone is celebrating Spain's dominance. New MotoGP owners Liberty Media — the American firm that also runs Formula 1 — have introduced a financial incentive worth up to €200,000 for teams that sign riders from underrepresented countries. In plain terms, that means riders who are not Spanish or Italian. Spanish and Italian riders make up 68% of the current MotoGP grid, according to Diario de Ibiza.
In April 2026, several manufacturers including Yamaha, Aprilia, and KTM reportedly skipped a Liberty Media dinner in Jerez as a protest. Italian media have also pushed back, saying the sport's calendar and talent infrastructure unfairly favor Spain. The tension has a name in the Spanish press: "mosqueo general" — or general annoyance — aimed squarely at the new owners.
Spain's Racing Machine: How the Nieto Pipeline Keeps Producing Champions
The three leaders are not accidents. They are products of a system built over decades. Spain's JuniorGP series — formerly the CEV championship — acts as a direct feeder to the World Championship. It was rebranded in 2021 to appear more international, but its winners remain almost entirely Spanish. The Aspar Team academy, mentored by figures from Ángel Nieto's era, has been central to that pipeline, according to El Correo Gallego.
There is also the curious case of David Alonso. He was born in Madrid and trained in Spain, but he races under the Colombian flag. Analysts see it as a smart workaround — he avoids competing in the Spanish-saturated talent market while attracting Latin American sponsors. At Assen, he won the Moto2 race outright. Spain, in spirit if not on paper, keeps winning either way, reports LNE.
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