Ex-MotoGP rider wins his first King of the Baggers race

A former MotoGP rider reigned supreme in a King of the Baggers race in America on Saturday.

Loris Baz won for the first time in the MotoAmerica category at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

It was Baz’s first time on the S&S/Indian Motorcycle-backed Indian Challenger, and he had to tackle wet and tricky conditions.

It seemed that Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman was on course to win the King of the Baggers race on Saturday.

But Baz crept past teammate Troy Herfoss into second, but still trailed Wyman into the final lap.

Baz brilliantly overtook Wyman on the back straight, then led into 10-A, and won by .199 of a second.

French rider Baz is competing in his third MotoAmerica campaign but has switched from the Superbike category for 2025.

Baz has raced for two seasons in British Superbikes, nine seasons in World Superbikes, and three in MotoGP.

After winning on Saturday in America, he said: “Well, it went from just trying to survive to seeing I was catching (gaining ground).

“But at the same time, so many moments. I almost crashed 25 times in that race. I had big moments with the rear, but I feel like I was controlling the rear, playing with that limit.

“But my main concern was the front. On those three first laps before the race (a practice session), I had a really bad feeling on the front. I was not expecting to fight for the win in that race.

“But then we restarted, and I could see that everyone was a little bit struggling. Even if I had a lot of problems on the lean angle on the front, I kind of found some lines and I was able to just brake hard straight, not lean the bike too much, and change a little bit my lines.

“It took me a little bit of time to overtake Troy (Herfoss), because with that bad feeling and the moments I was having, I didn’t want to take him out.

“It was sketchy, but after two laps I saw that I was catching Kyle (Wyman) in a lot of places. So, I went from trying to secure second place to accepting the risk of trying to catch him. I knew that I was on the limit, but I think everyone was.

“I was pretty happy. I knew I had no chance to overtake him anywhere, unless on the straight into 10A. Then I had a big moment in the exit of 10B, but that was the third or fourth time in that race, so I was expecting that.

“I’m super happy. It doesn’t matter the class. When you never rode a bike in the wet and you go first time, it’s just a matter of how good your crew is to guess setup for you. So, big thanks to them.

“They did a great job to guess the right setup for me. Obviously, I’m much bigger than those guys, than Tyler (O’Hara) and Troy (Herfoss), so you can’t copy and paste the setup.

“I’m happy. I’m proud of what we are doing inside the team and all the people involved. It’s a massive challenge.

“First time riding a bike with no TC in the wet, it’s been 15 years. It’s something I love, but we have to remember how to do it. So, I’m happy.”