Supersport Portimao Race 1: ZXMoto makes history, now the Chinese win

The world is changing fast, and so is motorcycling. Until not long ago, “Chinese motorcycle” was a pejorative: low quality, poor performance. But try telling that to Valentin Debise, the 34-year-old French rider who has written Chinese industry into the history books. ZXMoto won Race 1 of the second round of the Supersport World Championship at Portimão. A sensational feat.

Yes, because this year ZXMoto wasn’t even supposed to race. The 820 RR, a hyper-sport triple, was only meant to do testing and prepare for 2027. But the Italian outfit Evan Bros pushed to shorten the timeline, trusting in its potential. A strategic move, because on just its second outing in the premier middleweight championship, ZXMoto sensationally cleaned up. It’s not a bolt from the blue: Kove, another Chinese brand, swept the Supersport 300 World Championship in 2025. But that was an entry-level class, and in its final edition to boot. This triumph is far more remarkable. It won’t be many years before we see the Chinese in Superbike and MotoGP.

The success of Valentin Debise and the technical dominance of ZXMoto was never in doubt. The Frenchman took the reins on lap two, capitalizing on the retirement of polesitter Can Oncu, and from then on his only task was to manage the gap as it grew, relayed on the pit board by the Evan Bros crew. The Ravenna-based team deserves great credit: two world titles with Yamaha, and now it’s the Chinese who are giving thanks.

The World Championship runner-up had set a stratospheric Superpole, but the race told a different story. Can Oncu rocketed off the line but crashed heavily at the end of lap two, tossing away precious points. The kid is fast, but the years are ticking by and the consistency needed to target the title still isn’t there. The season is long, the misstep is recoverable, but the mistake counts double also because Oncu himself won here, beating Stefano Manzi, who would later become champion.

Oncu’s misstep changed the complexion of the race, but when all was said and done the usual powerhouses—the Yamaha R9, 2025 world champion, and the Ducati Panigale V2, dominant in the two previous seasons—were left counting the seconds to the leader. Jaume Masia, Ducati’s sharpest performer at this early stage, bagged second place, invaluable in the World Championship picture. Yamaha salvaged a podium with the bulldog Lucas Mahias: the youngsters are coming, but he’s always there, scrapping with the best. The Frenchman outpaced his brand-mates Garcia and Arenas, the former Moto2 rider who had announced himself by winning Race 2 at the Australian debut.