Chongqing - Chongqing-based motorcycle maker ZXMOTO scored a landmark international racing victory on March 28, when French rider Valentin Debise won the Supersport class at the Portugal round of the FIM Superbike World Championship (WSBK) aboard the company's 820RR-RS.
French rider Valentin Debise, riding ZXMOTO's 820RR-RS, wins the WSBK Portugal round and raises China's national flag after the race. (Photo/ZXMOTO)
WSBK is a global production-based motorcycle racing series. SSP, or Supersport, is one of its main support classes, typically featuring middleweight sport bikes derived from mass-production models.
The result marked the first victory by a Chinese motorcycle manufacturer in the SSP category and the first time a Chinese motorcycle brand has won a race at a WSBK round. The win ended decades of dominance in the series by European, U.S., and Japanese brands, drawing widespread attention from Chinese fans and becoming a trending topic online.
French rider Valentin Debise celebrates victory aboard the 820RR-RS. (Photo/ZXMOTO)
The result followed a difficult debut earlier this year. At the Australian round in February, the 820RR-RS made its first appearance in the SSP category. Debise qualified in third place, but both ZXMOTO entries ran into problems during the race, and a tire strategy error further affected the team's performance. The bikes finished 19th and 24th.
In Portugal, the outcome was markedly different. Debise began the race in pursuit of the leaders, but as riders ahead crashed, he gradually built a gap and stayed clear of battles behind him. He crossed the line 3.685 seconds ahead of the second-place rider.
Industry observer Mr. Zhang said the achievement carries particular weight because WSBK differs from MotoGP, the prototype-based world championship. WSBK is widely seen as a test of the extreme performance of production motorcycles, he said, and the victory came in the main World SSP category for 600cc to 800cc machines against established brands including Honda, Yamaha, and Ducati.
ZXMOTO's founder, Zhang Xue, has become a notable figure in China's motorcycle sector. Born in a rural area of Huaihua in central China's Hunan Province, he grew up in poverty and was exposed to motorcycle repair from a young age.
In 2006, when he was 19, he drew public attention after riding more than 100 kilometers in the rain to catch up with a television crew, an episode that helped him gain an opportunity to enter a professional racing team.
Zhang Xue celebrates the victory. (Photo/ZXMOTO)
He moved alone to Chongqing in 2013 with 20,000 yuan (about 2,893 U.S. dollars), and built his early business by posting motorcycle modification content on online forums and selling bikes. In 2017, he and a partner founded Kaiyue Motor, growing annual sales from 800 units to 30,000 units. In 2023, he led the Kaiyue team into the Dakar Rally. After leaving Kaiyue, he founded ZXMOTO in Chongqing in April 2024.
Zhang has said he chose Chongqing because it is China's motorcycle capital. He said that when he first arrived, he knew no one in the city, but could find every motorcycle component he needed in a single parts market.
That industrial base remains central to the company's story. Chongqing, often described as the cradle of China's motorcycle industry, is home to more than 40 complete motorcycle manufacturers and over 400 parts suppliers.
The city has an annual production capacity of 10 million motorcycles and 20 million engines. One out of every three motorcycles exported from China is made in Chongqing, and in the first quarter of 2025, the city's motorcycle exports reached 6.52 billion yuan, up 67.4% year on year.
The racing win also came as the company reported growing commercial momentum. On March 21, 2026, ZXMOTO opened reservations for its 2026 versions of the 500RR and 820RR. By March 29, the company said it had received 5,543 firm orders, meaning customers had paid delivery deposits, within 100 hours.
Watching the Portugal race live from Chongqing, Zhang was moved to tears, according to the materials provided. He later wrote on social media: "Doing something is not about chasing the result, but because of passion. Maybe the result really will be different."