Last year WorldSSP300 featured a Chinese-made Kove machine, with that involvement doubling to two entries for 2024. Julio Garcia Gonzalez rode his 321-RR single-cylinder machine to pole position in Catalunya, set the fastest lap and a new lap record in the opening race and currently sits sixth overall.
But the biggest interest in all things two-wheeled and Chinese came from the introduction of Puccetti Racing’s four-cylinder QJMotor SRK 800 RR entry in the Moto2 category, ridden by Raffaele de Rosa. For a company that is only around four years old but already sells 300,000 bikes a year, this WorldSSP entry is a big step.
Still down on power and speed right now, repeating technical gremlins meant de Rosa didn’t see the finish line in the opening race, but he finished the six-lap Race 2 sprint in 31st – albeit 21 seconds down on the winning combo of Manzi and Yamaha. The project is completely standalone from the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing side of things, of course.
With extravagent winglets, a generally big build but lots of sleek design touches, it has a hint of sports tourer in its track oriented WorldSSP shape– but expect lots of updates and maybe some quite soon.
“The reason QJMotor wants to enter the championship is that we believe that by joining the championship it is a necessary way to develop a high performance motorbike,” Mr Yang Yongqi, the racing manager from QJ Moto, said at the public unveiling. “We want to inject racing technology into our products, also the DNA of racing to the brand. We believe that this is a good opportunity to promote QJMotor in the global aspect. These are things that make us want to compete in the championship.”
QJ Racing’s Director Zhou Daquan said the company has a three-year plan in joining the championship. “The first year, 2024, is to be here. The purpose of this is to learn, develop and continuously improve our bike. Also to gain as much experience as possible. Then in 2025 we are thinking to expand our team, more than one rider and try our best to take a podium.
“After 2025 we would like to seek the opportunity to challenge the Superbike category. We have a long-term goal to participate in the championship and we would like to see this as a good start between QJMotor and WorldSBK.”
WORDS: GORDON RITCHIE
