Xabi Zurutuza

Xabi Zurutuza is a Spanish professional motorcycle racer born in Legazpi, Spain, on 7 April 2006. He began his racing journey at a very young age and progressed through various junior categories before reaching the MotoGP World Championship. Zurutuza has followed a competitive development pathway through Spanish and European racing.Zurutuza received his first motorcycle at the age of four. In 2017, when he was 11 years old, he competed with the DMT team and finished third in the Spanish Supermotard Championship in the 65cc category. One year later, he improved his achievement by winning the Spanish national 85cc championship. During this period, he began shifting his career toward road racing by joining Cuna de Campeones in the PreMoto4 category.In 2019, Zurutuza returned to the 250cc Supermotard category and immediately won the Spanish championship in his first season in the class. In 2020, he continued his success by winning the Spanish 250cc Supermotard title with Phoenix Racing Team. In the same year, he also finished third in the Spanish PreMoto3 Championship with Cuna de Campeones. These results demonstrated his ability to adapt to different forms of motorcycle racing.The 2021 season became an important stage in Zurutuza's development. He scored four podium finishes and ended the season third in his debut campaign in the Hawkers European Talent Cup. His performance opened the door to higher-level European junior competition.In 2022 and 2023, Zurutuza joined the Italian MTA team and competed in the FIM JuniorGP World Championship. During the 2023 season, he secured two important victories at Portimao and Catalunya. Those performances attracted the attention of Red Bull KTM Ajo and created an opportunity for him to move into the Moto3 World Championship in 2024. The move represented an important stage in his transition from junior competition to Grand Prix racing.Zurutuza subsequently continued his career within the World Championship structure and gained experience in Moto3 before moving up to Moto2. In 2026, he is listed as a rider for KLINT Racing Team in Moto2, competing with Forward machinery. Official MotoGP data records his participation in both Moto2 and Moto3, with 29 Grand Prix race starts across his career. In 2026, Zurutuza continues his adaptation to the intermediate class, which presents different motorcycle characteristics, speeds and technical demands compared with Moto3.Zurutuza's career demonstrates a gradual progression from Supermotard and PreMoto3 through the European Talent Cup, JuniorGP, Moto3 and Moto2. With experience across these categories, he remains one of Spain's young riders developing his career within the MotoGP World Championship structure while continuing to work toward greater consistency and performance in the intermediate class.