Source: Maxtra Racing Press Office

The vehicle is a motorcycle, built for the competitive, classic and important 125cc Grand Prix class, and scheduled to race next year.

With a British chassis and an innovative European two-stroke engine, the all-new Maxtra GP 125 is a serious challenge to the existing European dominance. But it is a direct Chinese factory effort, by Haojue motorcycles, a leading Chinese manufacturer with staggering production figures. The company makes in excess of 3-million motorcycles each year, with major further growth under way.

Haojue chose the new brand name Maxtra as having greater international appeal, in line with future expansion plans. The company, which has a very close technical co-operation with Suzuki, already exports motorcycles to 70 Asian countries.

The state-of-the-art prototype has an innovative downward-pointing cylinder, easing gas flow for the single-cylinder two-stroke engine. Dutch engineer Jan Witteveen, winner of more than 40 world championships in off-road and GP racing, designed it. The compact chassis and wind-cheating bodywork are by foremost British racing manufacturer Harris Performance Products.

"The 125 class is very competitive, but our aim is to challenge for wins in the second year and the championship in the third," said team consultant Garry Taylor, the most experienced MotoGP team manager in the paddock.

"Bringing top racing technology to the new Chinese team will short-cut this process, giving the factory engineers a fast-track course in race engineering."

The Maxtra 125 begins a programme of shakedown testing in Britain and Europe in the coming weeks and for the rest of 2008, in preparation for a full Grand Prix debut in 2009.


Photo Credit : Maxtra Press Office