Humble origins

From the beginning, life dealt Zhang a tough hand.

He was born into a farming family in Mayang county, in Central China's Hunan province, and his parents divorced when he was 10. Located in western Hunan, the county is tucked away in the mountains, a few hours' drive from the famous Zhangjiajie or "Avatar" mountains.

After the divorce, Zhang and his younger sister lived with their grandmother.

At 16, Zhang graduated from middle school. Driven by a near-obsessive passion for motorbikes since childhood, he became an apprentice at a relative's motorcycle repair shop.

During his apprenticeship, he started riding motorbikes seriously. In previous interviews, he recalled practicing on a "beaten-up, eighth-hand" bike along the muddy, narrow paths of his hometown, Tianjiawan village in Mayang.

"Since then, I've ridden every day, and it makes me very happy," he said. "Riding is my only hobby and I can't think of anything else more interesting."

While the self-taught rider from a humble background wanted to be a professional racer, he had no connections in the motorsport world to make his dream come true.