Qianjiang Motors (QJ Motor) looks set to become the second Chinese motorcycle manufacturer to turn to international grand prix racing with an entry into the 2022 Moto3 World Championship.
The powerhouse is one of China’s biggest and best-known motorcycle manufacturers domestically, while it has been making in-roads into the European market through its purchase and overhaul of Italy’s Benelli.
It now looks set to expand further into GP racing with a deal that is understood to have been struck with KTM to rebrand the RC250GPs entered by the Spanish Avintia Esponsorama Moto3 team.
Strictly a renaming exercise - rather than QJ Motor developing its own Moto3 chassis - it is a tactic that will now account for five of the six manufacturers listed to compete in 2022.
In addition to QJMotor, fellow Chinese company CFMoto has joined forces with Prustel GP to rebrand its KTM-sourced bikes for 2022, while the Austrian firm’s direct stablemates GasGas and Husqvarna - as well as KTM itself - are also present.
It means the only non-KTM chassis or affiliated brand will be Honda with its NSF250RW, which will be used by five of the Moto3 teams.
QJMotor Avintia Esponsorama, which is taking over the VR46 effort after Valentino Rossi’s team took over Avintia’s MotoGP entry - will run with two VR46 Academy proteges in Matteo Bertelle and Elia Bartolini this year.
