For decades, Chinese brands in top-tier international motorcycle racing were either absent or mere “background noise.” That changed on March 28-29 at the Portimão Circuit in Portugal. During the World Superbike Championship (WSBK), the “Red Lightning” of China’s ZXMOTO Factory Team stunned the world.
French rider Valentin Debise, piloting the #53 820RR-RS, secured back-to-back victories, claiming a historic double-win. This is the first time a Chinese motorcycle brand has ever stood on the top step of a world-class racing podium. While the world watched in shock, founder Zhang Xue and his team were in their Chongqing factory, waving the national flag in tears.
Zhang Xue is a “contrarian” in the industry—a fanatical rider turned manufacturer who defied the odds to drag a Chinese brand onto the global stage. Now, he speaks with the confidence of a champion about the true strength of “Made in China.”
The most staggering moment was the first round victory, where ZXMOTO led the field by nearly four seconds. In elite racing, a four-second gap is an eternity—it usually suggests a massive disparity in machine performance.
“The race officials strictly enforce ‘Performance Balance’ to ensure no single bike has an unfair advantage,” Zhang Xue explains. “We won by four seconds for two core reasons. First, our rider, Debise, was in a ‘God-mode’ state. He is a late-braker; where others brake at 100 meters, he holds until 90. He pushed the machine to its absolute physical limit. Second, once he broke away from the pack, he had ‘clean air.’ He wasn’t fighting for lines; he could hit every apex perfectly. Behind him, Yamaha and Ducati riders were in a dogfight, losing time in every corner as they defended and counter-attacked.”
In the second round, Debise made a mistake and dropped to third. However, the high-performance overhead of the 820RR-RS allowed him to retake the lead in the corners and pull away on the straights. “It wasn’t just luck,” Zhang says. “It was the realization that a Chinese brand is now truly capable of outperforming the world’s best.”
ZXMOTO was only founded in 2024. By 2026, they were winning world titles. The 820RR-RS race bike features an in-house developed 819cc inline triple-cylinder engine pumping out 153.6 horsepower.
Zhang Xue’s own story is as legendary as his bikes. An apprentice mechanic who spent his early years assembling engines blindfolded, he poured every cent he earned into racing. He became famous on internet forums for “hand-crafting” race bikes. Eventually, he co-founded a brand, took it to the Dakar Rally, and then resigned in 2024 because investors wanted “safe profits” while he wanted “extreme performance.”
He moved to Chongqing to build ZXMOTO. By 2025, sales are projected to exceed 25,000 units. He takes the profits from selling street bikes and reinvests every penny back into the track.
Zhang Xue attributes his success to the complete motorcycle industrial chain in Chongqing. “In the last decade, China’s manufacturing quality has skyrocketed. Today, for any part on a MotoGP or F1 car—if you have the blueprints—China can manufacture it at 100% quality. Our parts are as good as anything from Europe, Japan, or the US.”
What China lacks isn’t the ability to make things; it’s the database of experience. Zhang Xue solves this with brutal intensity. “If my team faces a technical wall, we attack it. If we can’t solve it in a day, we take a week. If not a week, a month. We don’t stop until the problem is dead.”
Zhang Xue is perhaps the most controversial figure in the industry for one specific reason: He refuses to sell the 820RR to beginners.
When the street-legal version of the champion bike opened for pre-order, he mandated that any rider with less than one year of experience could not purchase it. “Why? Because I want fewer people to die,” Zhang says bluntly. “This rule will cost me at least 10% in sales. I don’t care. My company won’t die without that 10%.”
The ZXMOTO 820RR (Click to view price) is a beast: 135hp, 193kg, 0-100km/h in 2.81 seconds, and a near 1:1.3 power-to-weight ratio. With an electronic speed limit of 299km/h, the power delivery after 8,000 RPM is violent. Zhang insists that novices simply cannot handle this level of performance. “Fines? I’ll pay them. Complaints? I’ll take them. But I won’t sell a weapon to someone who isn’t ready.”
ZXMOTO isn’t stopping at World Supersport. By September, they plan to enter the GP race in Shanghai. The ultimate goal? MotoGP.
Zhang Xue’s prediction for the future is bold: “Within the next five years, Chinese brands will seize more than 50% of the large-displacement market share from international giants like Ducati, Triumph, Honda, Yamaha, and Kawasaki.”
His logic is simple: “Ask yourself three times what you truly want to do. If the answer is the same every time, then go all in.” From a boy chasing racing vans in the rain to a CEO disrupting a multi-billion dollar industry, Zhang Xue has proven that when you prioritize Extreme Passion over profit, the world eventually has to get out of your way.
