'There might be a day when nobody has an idea who a MotoGP rider is'

The deep turquoise blue of the Aspar team has become one of the most recognisable colours in Moto3 and Moto2 – the main proving grounds for future MotoGP stars. In Portugal last weekend, grand prix motorcycle racing marked its first 21-race season in 76 years, and fittingly, just a week before the finale on home soil in Valencia, the Aspar crew was back on the podium thanks to Max Quiles’ third Moto3 win and David Alonso’s close second place in Moto2.

Aspar’s four contracted riders for 2025, two in each class, are 24, 20, 19 and 17 years of age. Quiles, Alonso (the record-breaking 2024 Moto3 world champion) and Dani Holgado (also in Moto2) are all rookies in their respective categories. The bubbling talent is evident by the fact that the team needed the first six rounds of the season to record a single podium finish, but from the following 15 races there have only been two grands prix without an Aspar rider grasping a Prosecco bottle on either podium. There have been five fixtures where Aspar staff have visited both Moto2 and Moto3 ceremonies in the same afternoon.

In Portimao, Dorna Sports announced how it had rejigged and rebranded its ‘Road to MotoGP’ route from MiniMoto and regional contests through ‘Moto4’ to the FIM JuniorGP world championship and the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup: the final bounce boards to grand prix racing. The more concise network covers competition in three continents and from ages 10 to 18. The Aspar team, owned and led by 63-year-old former four-time world champion Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’, is the banner-waving element of a company that involves racing representation through most of the Road to MotoGP ladder.

The entity is not only a champion-maker but runs ‘school’ programmes in Spain and China, a project through its partner CFMOTO. It has an academy for race mechanics and oversees the multi-purpose Aspar circuit an hour north of Valencia as well.

The grand prix team has a long history from when Martínez created his own tobacco-backed effort in 1992 and then transitioned into management from 1998. Since then, it has helped form 12 world title winners – one of those being current team manager Nico Terol – and been instrumental in the careers of Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martín. Aspar has duelled with Aki Ajo’s Red Bull KTM Ajo squad for the most titles away from the MotoGP grid and has delivered three since 2020.

There was an ill-fated dip into MotoGP from 2010-2018 where it was campaigning unripe or outdated Ducati machinery or Honda‘s ‘customer’ RC213V-S to help the series wade through the CRT period. Aleix Espargaró, Nicky Hayden, Eugene Laverty and Alvaro Bautista posted top 10 results, but there wasn’t a single podium, and sponsorship varied and dipped. The team refocussed from 2017 in Moto2 and Moto3, ditched the Indian Mahindra brand for a partnership with KTM (which would develop into GasGas and then CFMOTO) and once again became a desirable cradle for aspirants. The set-up has a predilection for Valencian prospects but is not solely a Spanish Petri dish. In fact, two of Britain’s more successful grand prix riders of the last 20 years, Bradley Smith and Jake Dixon, both came through the system.

For the last 10 years Aspar has been a place that many have viewed as the golden conduit to success. There was only going to be one destination for Quiles: the fledgling project for the Márquez brothers and their Vertical Agency. The reason for the reputation begins with Martínez and the culture he has set and how a long-term vision can pay off.

Setting the standard

“There are no secrets,” ‘Aspar’ tells Motor Sport with that wide grin. “It’s a lot of work and a lot of methodology in the way to create riders. It’s eight years since we began this project with the school so all these kids doing well now are eight years in the making, it’s not like it suddenly all happened in just two. The difference is that the school has spread into different series; Moto4, the Talent cups, Rookies cup and JuniorGP with six teams. We make investments. We lift and educate youngsters to be riders, people, professionals, such as their dealings with sponsors and all that entails. After eight years it’s delivering fruit.”

“Jorge, above all, has a lot of passion and that is what carries a team through difficult moments,” Terol tells us. “Passion and perseverance. He always looks for the best solutions on the sporting side. This team never lacks in that area: sport is the priority, and he was a pioneer for racing schools. For example, I started in 1999 in the Cuna de Campeones [cradle of champions] and I was lucky to be the first from Valencia to make it through, and also lucky to have a scholarship because my parents didn’t have the money to help me go through the categories until I reached the world championship.

“I tried a couple of teams, like Derbi, and then I signed for him, raced against [Marc] Márquez and Jorge [Lorenzo], won the world championship, tried a few Moto2 races and then Jorge rescued me again to head the school. Jorge knows how to build the bases of riders that can be a champion and let them prosper. He keeps his vow to them.”

“The team, technically-speaking, is very consolidated,” Martínez explains of the 28-person unit that has even included MotoE presence. “This year the personnel around David and Dani in Moto2 are 20 years together. There is a lot of experience through the categories. This is not only important for the quality of the job but the regularity with the riders. It’s important to have a group that can ‘live’ together because they are almost with each other more than regular family. So, it is its own kind of ‘family’. It is key.”

The riders clearly feel the benefit of this ‘nest’. The term ‘family’ is overused in sport but there seems to be a fraternal and amiable feeling around Aspar pervaded by the noise and joviality often seen or felt when entering the tinted hospitality set-up. “The team does a lot for you as a rider but also as a person: they keep you calm and also ‘feed’ you in the journey,” offers 20-year-old Holgado, who raced for both the Ajo and Tech3 teams in Moto3 before coming to Aspar. “They help you to keep focused and to keep working. It’s something that’s fundamental in this championship and quite difficult, I think.”

“Everybody knows each other well and they prepare the riders as well as the bikes,” opines 17-year-old Quiles. “I have a lot of confidence with them. It’s like I’m at ‘home’.”

“I don’t know if it’s a Spanish company culture or more because of Jorge’s character but, firstly, the personnel are carefully selected,” reveals PR and Communications boss Vicente Vila, who has been with Aspar for almost 10 years. “David’s team, for example, are all Italian and were with Gino Borsoi [Prima Pramac Yamaha Team Manager] until he stopped racing in 2004. There are others that worked with Jorge as far back as ’97. I don’t want to say ‘comfortable’ but it’s a team that treat its people well.”

“Everyone knows what they have to do and there is also a real collaboration. You’ll see the mechanics of other riders helping to work on another bike when they have time. They just ‘fit’. It gives me goosebumps to see how a group comes together like that and I don’t think it happens in many other places. This atmosphere ends up stretching across the whole operation and to the riders. They are rivals but it doesn’t feel that way.”

Making choices

Aspar can cherry-pick its prospects because of both the foundation and the framework it has in Moto3 and Moto2. Naturally, it’s not an easy process but the management has a few guidelines.

“A mum or dad, no matter the level of affection and sensitivity, is rarely objective in the right way.”

“It’s difficult because we can make mistakes, whether its selection of riders or what advice you give, but it’s important to be constructive and to learn, always,” Terol says, with the stern glare of a former competitor. “What also removes pressure is that when we choose a rider we look at the support around them. At JuniorGP level I forbid the parents from entering the pitbox because the rider’s ‘family’ at the races is the team.

“A mum or dad, no matter the level of affection and sensitivity, is rarely objective in the right way. So, you have to see what comes with a rider and everything around him. There is a lot of details to look out for [behaviour] and to not be afraid of telling them a few truths. That’s really important. It’s part of our job to make racers but also professionals and it’s like a snowball that has to roll positively.”

“The rider’s group, the family, the manager or even friends: they have a lot of influence for the education and progression,” Martínez underlines.

What about the youthful athlete? “There are riders with a lot of talent and make it look easy but many times they don’t really know how or why,” Aspar outlines. “Then there are riders that have some talent but are also systematic and very hard-working. They are consistent, and with a full understanding of what they are doing. Obviously, the tricky part is making the very talented riders have the mentality for hard work because when things are simple they back off. It means the less-talented but harder-working ones are more inclined to make it.”

“Different people, different ways but that’s why it’s crucial that the group around the rider lets the team do its job,” he adds. “And you cannot work the same way with everyone. There are 12-year-old kids who are very fast but then you have to find the ones that can still do it on different tracks, with a different bike and different tyres or used tyres. We look for those that can handle the modifications and make their own difference.”

Aspar has four grand prix winners in its current midst and three are debutant victors in its class in 2025. With 18-year-old Marco Morelli replacing Dennis Foggia for 2026 alongside Quiles, the entire roster will have come through the Aspar Junior programme. “I think the project we have now is getting more consolidated and stronger every time because we now have our own race mechanic school, we have the riders’ school with more than 100 kids, our own circuit and presence in all the relevant categories,” Martínez says.

“It means every year we’ve been growing as a structure to identify and progress young potential. There are many teams that only think about the next season. We’re thinking more long-term and that’s an important difference. We now have a school in China and we’re in talks for one for the USA. Right now, we have an Argentine, Colombian and two Spaniards for 2026 but the idea is to be even more international.”

The career trajectories for riders rise and then crawl at different points, like a busy graph. Moto3 glory for the likes of Albert Arenas, Izan Guevara, Sergio Garcia – and even Terol himself – stunted in Moto2. Moto2 promise for Dixon and Aron Canet never pushed forwards. It’s rare to witness a continual ascension and that marks David Alonso as something quite special: Aspar’s answer to the phenomenon of Ajo’s Pedro Acosta, who is two years older.

“A brutal talent that works in a very systematic way,” says Terol in assessing Alonso. “There are other riders that also work hard but he has the intelligence to look at what works for him and to know that he is always in a learning process. I’m talking about training sessions on the bike, his positioning but then also on other aspects like the way he does his interviews and his language skills. When he wins or when he has a bad result; he is the same person, and this helps with balance. He’s very complete, and as a person he is all heart.”

Many believed 2022 Moto3 champion Guevara would precede Alonso’s billing, but the Majorcan is now nearing the end of third year in Moto2 (after two challenging terms for Aspar) and the 21-year-old has yet to secure a win. “Izan is one of the biggest talents…but everything came very easily,” Terol reflects. “He won quickly; JuniorGP in his first year with us and then into Moto3 which he won in just his second year. Moto2 is the trickiest class. Many riders have passed some tough times. He didn’t quite have the tools for a difficult period because he had never really experienced one. We tried many things…”

Handing over riders and support class future

Alonso, who will be 20 next April, has been part of the Aspar pathway since he was 12. He decimated Moto3 in 2024 and has five podiums and one win in his first Moto2 attempt so far. “He’s been eight seasons with us, we’ll have a ninth and I don’t think there will be a tenth but… that’s our job,” says Vila.

MotoGP’s contract cycle for riders and teams will spin fast for 2027 when the sporting regulations also mark a new era. Alonso, Holgado and Quiles are already on the radar for factory teams beyond 2026 and the Aspar operation will have to accept that the trail ends with their eventual step to the premier division.

“Yes, in one way it’s a shame but you just have to be aware of your work and your purpose and that is the development of these guys,” Vila says. “Develop them as riders but also as riders to win. We’ve had Pecco, Martin, Raúl Fernández lately and you know that at some point you have to hand them over because the goal [for them] is MotoGP. In years like 2023 and 2024 when Pecco and Jorge Martin are fighting for the MotoGP title then this was amazing for us too.”

Aspar is not part of the settled 11-team MotoGP class list – “Do you want to be the tail of the lion or the head of the rat?” says Vila, conjuring an old Spanish proverb for the team’s priorities: MotoGP midfield or star profile in the other categories – but it will be keeping a watch on how Dorna shapes the support classes with talk of a 700cc formula for Moto3 to bring it closer to formative relevance for Moto2 (765cc Triumph engines) and then 850cc MotoGP as well as rumours of a reduced calendar. The classes have already lost warm-up and media duties in 2025.

“There might be a day when there is a rider in MotoGP and nobody has an idea of who it is,” Vila forewarns. “Although from what they are saying [diminishment of Moto2 and Moto3] is not the target,” he adds. “If you’re a fan of MotoGP then you know how entertaining the other classes can be and the three races form a fantastic packet. It’s not one race that lasts for two hours and you can sleep for some of it.”

How long can Martínez resist with his empire before he eventually rests himself? “It’s 43 years for me in the world championship and I’m still amazed, frustrated and mystified by racing,” he claims. “I still have fun and – while I still have the enthusiasm – I’m able to make this my hobby, my job and my life. It also means you never stop!”

For eight of the last nine rounds of 2025, the race team has been polishing at least one piece of silverware. ‘Aspar’ was a nickname given to Martínez apparently due to his family’s notable background as a footwear and slipper maker. The Valencian continues to construct his own winning brand. If the shoe fits…?