Archie McDonald stars in Bagger World Cup season opener

Australia’s Archie McDonald has made history, winning the first race of the inaugural FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup. The all-new racing series, held in conjunction with selected MotoGP rounds, saw McDonald take victory in the opening race at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas.

Riding for the Australian-owned Joe Rascal Racing team in the one-make championship, McDonald was fastest in both Free Practise sessions, but was trumped in qualifying by team mate, Eric Granado, who set a 2m12.387s lap to secure pole. McDonald was second fastest in qualifying, with Niti Racing’s Oscar Gutierrez completing the front row of the nine-rider grid for Race 1.

Bagger World Cup Race 1 saw McDonald secure the holeshot from Granado, with the team mates swiftly building a gap over the chasing pack that was led by Saddlemen Racing’s Jake Lewis. On lap 5 of 7, a tankslapper from McDonald allowed Granado to take the lead, but when the Brazilian crashed at turn 1 on the penultimate lap, McDonald cruised to victory, making history as the first ever Bagger World Cup race winner.

Race 2 saw McDonald once again make the perfect launch to lead the field into Turn 1, but in the cooler conditions, he and Granado were unable to break away, with Oscar Gutierrez (Niti Racing) making it a three-way fight at the front. Clicking off fast laps, including a new lap record for the category, Gutierrez was able to get past Granado midway through the seven-lap race, then overtake McDonald with three laps to go.

After being flagged for exceeding track limits, McDonald failed to complete his long lap penalty, but the bigger drama for the Aussie was on the final lap when he made a desperate dive past Gutierrez at the final corner, but couldn’t maintain drive, allowing the Spaniard to cross the line first. Although second at the chequered flag, ignoring the long lap saw McDonald demoted to third. Regardless, he finished the weekend with the championship lead – 41 points – ahead of Gutierrez (33) and Lewis (33).

The next round of the Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup will be held at Mugello on 29-31 May.