INDIAN MOTORCYCLE took the spoils in the inaugural King of the Baggers MotoAmerica Race at Laguna Seca – and it was amazing!
If a field of race-tuned baggers taking part in a national championship round was to happen anywhere, it had to be the good old US of A. And the King of the Baggers event at the MotoAmerica round from Laguna at the weekend wasn’t just a sideshow to bring a smile to the faces of the fans who were watching.
Quite the opposite. There were top racers from the not too distant past taking part, with Ben Bostrom standing out as one of the most well-known names from a grid of top-class American talent. The bikes to were top-spec bits of kit, massively updated and tuned over the months preceding the race. Harley-Davidson was fielding Street Glides and Indian brought their Challenger to the party.
MotoAmerica King of the Baggers - highlights video
At the end of the race it was plucky newcomer from S&S Indian that took the spoils, with Tyler O’Hara at the helm. And he didn’t have it all his way either, battling back from a lowly track position after an off-track adventure early in the race. O’Hara eventually won by 1.9 seconds in what was a short but exciting race that is hopefully not the last time we see Baggers taking to a professional racing event.
O’Hara said after the race:
“Three or four laps in, I was going into (turn) two and I didn’t have any moments going into turn two the whole weekend and just ended up tucking the front, I saved it and then actually went all the way off into turn two. Actually, at the start Frankie (Garcia) was telling me my bike was smoking and I was like, ‘You’re full of it. What are you trying to psych me out?’ But he was serious. I looked at the bike and looked down and I saw a little brake fluid on the pipe. I said, ‘Okay, well we can figure this out. Don’t pull me out of here. We’re just going to figure it out.’ We didn’t have any rear brakes at all either, so that was a little interesting. We just did our homework and I was very fortunate that I was able to keep it on two wheels in the sand. Hayden was riding really good, and same with Frankie. It’s just so fun, like you said, being able to be part of this whole King of the Baggers. I haven’t seen people that excited about motorcycle racing in a long time. People were jumping up and down and hooting and hollering. It was just fun to put on a show with these guys. My hats off to everybody who rode a bagger this weekend because some of the bikes out there didn’t look too fun to be on. So, hats off to the team.”
