End of prejudice: Chinese ZXMOTO motorcycles shine in tests, Evan Bros already in the top 10
Road RacingMonday, 16 February 2026 at 14:04
Once upon a time “Chinese” was almost a synonym for poor quality; that’s no longer the case. Chinese cars, and especially motorcycles, are increasingly appreciated. So it’s not all that surprising that in the World Supersport tests at Phillip Island the two Evan Bros ZXMOTO 820RRs immediately proved to be very fast.
Valentin Debise, in particular, set the eighth-fastest time, and this is just the beginning. The ZXMotos have ample room for growth, and if they’re already this competitive on debut, other motorcycle manufacturers can start to worry. Evan Bros Team Principal Fabio Evangelista is beaming.
“I’m pleased with the day and the eight and a half tenths off the best time,” he told Corsedimoto. “I don’t want to say it’s unexpected, because that would be false. We wanted to be in the top 10 and we are, with Debise. And we’re not far off with Caricasulo. Honestly Federico didn’t push much; he left himself a bit more margin since last year he crashed on the Monday, took a big hit, broke his wrist, and I think he wanted to get through the day unscathed. After all, tests matter, but they’re still just tests.”
Work in progress.
“We had a few minor technical issues in the morning with both riders, but they were resolved fairly quickly. That kept us from running with both riders for over an hour during the morning session. In the afternoon we got going and yes, Valentin Debise had a decent pace. Over the two hours he felt more and more at one with the bike, thanks also to a few small tweaks. Same for Federico, who preferred not to push and to save his strength for tomorrow. This debut is absolutely positive: it gives us a lot of motivation for Tuesday and, of course, for race weekend.”
The synergy between the Italian team and the Chinese factory
“The bike works, and we have great confidence that we can be there, in the top 10. For us this is already a small first success, a first small step that perhaps no one expected if you start from the assumption of ‘Chinese bike equals poor-quality machine.’ It’s absolutely not true; we worked with the Chinese all winter and improved a bike that already had a good base, as it has shown. We need to maintain this reliability, which we had already found in January during testing at the Andalusia circuit. We’re on the right path to do well in the coming days, weeks, and months.”
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