Five Crowns: ZXMOTO Dominates Czech Round with Double Victory as Debise Surges to P2 in Championship

The Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic — 4.212 kilometres, 21 corners, and 10 heavy braking zones — is known as "braking hell." Over the weekend of May 16-17, 2026, it became ZXMOTO's kingdom.

French rider Valentin Debise, piloting the #53 ZXMOTO 820RR-RS, completed a flawless Czech Round double in the WorldSSP class, taking his fourth and fifth victories of an increasingly dominant 2026 campaign. The results catapulted him from third to second in the championship standings with 147 points — just 19 behind leader Albert Arenas.

Race 1: From Sixth to First

Saturday's race began with adversity. Despite qualifying third in Superpole, a three-place grid penalty for slow riding during free practice pushed Debise back to sixth on the starting grid. The early laps were a study in patience — trailing a phalanx of Yamahas, searching for openings that refused to appear.

The breakthrough came on Lap 7. With a surge of controlled aggression, Debise began carving through the field: one overtake, then another, then another. By the time he reached the lead, the question was not whether he would win, but by how much.

The answer: 3.2 seconds. And on the very last lap — Lap 19 — he set the fastest lap of the entire race at 1:34.336, a gesture of pure dominance that left no doubt about who owned the day.

"On Turn 4, I passed with the bike sliding, eyes closed, full gas," Debise laughed afterwards. Behind him, Yamaha riders Can Oncu and Albert Arenas took second and third.

Race 2: The Last-Corner Showdown

If Saturday was a demonstration of control, Sunday was a thriller. Starting from pole position, Debise found himself locked in an intense, race-long duel with Turkish rider Can Oncu. The lead changed hands repeatedly — Debise ahead, Oncu counters, Debise back — in a rhythm that had the Most crowd on its feet.

With six laps remaining, Oncu made what looked like the decisive move, pulling ahead and holding the lead into the final lap. Debise, now in second, faced the prospect of splitting the weekend's spoils. But the Frenchman had other ideas.

Entering the final corner — Turn 21 — Debise carried more speed through the apex than Oncu, the 820RR-RS's chassis giving him the confidence he needed. On the exit, he unleashed the triple's power, pulling alongside and then ahead in the last possible moment. The margin at the line: less than half a second.

Five Crowns: The Season So Far

The Czech double brought ZXMOTO's 2026 win tally to five — a number that has rewritten expectations and silenced doubters:

• Portugal, Race 1 (Mar 28): Historic first victory — 3.685s gap
• Portugal, Race 2 (Mar 29): Double confirmed — 0.5s margin
• Hungary, Race 1 (May 2): Last-lap double overtake — third win
• Czech, Race 1 (May 16): From P6 to P1 — fastest lap on final circuit
• Czech, Race 2 (May 17): Last-corner decider — fifth win

"What makes this victory especially meaningful is that our total points will increase significantly," Zhang Xue said after watching Sunday's race. "We can now look forward to the season championship. We did it!"

Championship Outlook

With Debise now on 147 points — just 19 behind Arenas's 166 — and ZXMOTO sitting third in the manufacturers' standings with 149 points, the championship math is compelling. Six rounds remain, including the Aragon Round (May 29-31), Donington Park, Magny-Cours, and the season finale at Jerez. The Chinese manufacturer is no longer chasing the championship — it is contending for it.

"I don't know about the points," Debise said with characteristic restraint, "but the only thing I can do is try to get the best result every time."

For ZXMOTO, that approach has already yielded five wins, a place in history, and the genuine prospect of a world championship. Not bad for a brand that was founded just two years ago.