Ex-MotoGP riders get podiums in Bagger racing debut
Bradley Smith, Loris Baz contested opening round of King of the Baggers
Former MotoGP riders Bradley Smith and Loris Baz finished on the podium in their maiden outings in the King of the Baggers series at Daytona last weekend.
Briton Smith raced in MotoGP full-time from 2013 to 2018, riding for Tech3 Yamaha and KTM’s factory team in its first two years.
A move to Aprilia as a test rider saw him contest a handful of races in 2019, while he competed in the full 2020 campaign before leaving the Italian manufacturer.
The 34-year-old announced recently that he would be taking part in this year’s King of the Baggers series in the US, which forms part of the MotoAmerica bill.
Smith hinted at these plans last November when he turned up at a Harley-Davidson event on the Monday after the Solidarity Grand Prix.
Making his debut last weekend during the Daytona 200 weekend, Smith formed part of Harley’s factory line-up alongside Kyle Wyman and James Rispoli.
Smith came out on top in a last-lap battle with Cameron Petersen on the SDI Racing Indian in race one, beating him by four tenths of a second on the run to the chequered flag.
It completed a 1-2 for the Harley factory team, as Smith’s team-mate Wyman won the eight-lap race around the Daytona International Speedway.
Wyman cleared away from the chasing pack, putting his Harley 2.6s up the road to score his fourth Baggers victory at Daytona.
Petersen completed the podium, with Kyle Ohnsorg and Jake Lewis rounding out the top five. Only eight riders were classified, with Tyler O’Hara, Rocco Landers and Troy Herfoss filling out the final few spots.
Ex-MotoGP and World Superbike racer Baz didn’t make the finish for the S&S/Indian Motorcycle team in race one, but completed the podium in race two.
Wyman won race two for the Baggers class in a much tighter finish, as he beat Herfoss by 0.056s
Smith crashed in race two, but remounted to finish last of the classified runners in 10th.
