Zhang Xue, founder of ZXMOTO, speaks to Xinhua at the factory in southwest China"s Chongqing, April 1, 2026. (Xinhua/Huang Wei)

　　In a rainy day in 2006, 19-year-old motorcycle mechanic Zhang Xue rode 100 kilometers through muddy mountainous roads in China"s Hunan Province, shivering in soaked clothes, to intercept a television crew.

　　He just wanted one chance to prove he belonged in a professional motorcycle racing team. They laughed at him. He crashed. But then he got back up.

　　Twenty years later, Zhang Xue made a name as the founder of ZXMOTO, after one of his motorcycles secured two victories at the Portuguese round of the Superbike World Championship (WSBK) on March 28 and 29. The Chinese brand broke the decades-long monopoly of Ducati, Yamaha and Kawasaki.

　　How did the world see Chinese motorcycles before those victories? "Maybe there was no impression," Zhang told Xinhua days after the win. "Do you understand? Your existence or non-existence feels the same to them."

　　THE TEENAGE OUTCAST

　　The 2006 footage featuring him chasing the van has exploded across Chinese social media. "I"ll do anything. Wash clothes, cook, fix bikes," Zhang pleaded into the camera, knowing the other riders laughed at him.

　　In 2023, he contacted the television station and asked for the original footage. When asked why, he replied with a single word: marketing.

　　The marketing worked. That footage turned an ordinary man"s epic struggle into a legend - without it, no underdog story, no breakout attention.