Bagger, Silverstone, Race 1: Bradley Smith (35) came, saw and conquered

As part of the MotoGP support programme at Silverstone, Races 7 and 8 of the Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup will take place. Eric Granado, Oscar Gutierrez and Archie McDonald are battling it out for the overall title, with just 14 points separating them at the top of the standings.

New to the line-up at Silverstone is Max Toth (USA), who is standing in for the injured Cory West. Local hero Bradley Smith is also joining the field on a wildcard – the Englishman’s motorbike is adorned with the iconic Union Jack.

Smith competes in the Harley Cup in the USA and thrilled his compatriots in qualifying on Saturday morning with the third-fastest lap time. Only the Australian Archie McDonald (20) and the Spaniard Oscar Gutierrez (27) were faster than the former MotoGP rider. Cup leader Granado started the first race in fifth place. The Malaysian Dimas Pratama was absent due to technical problems.

Seeing the ponderous V2 bikes on the racetrack is an unusual sight, but nonetheless entertaining and thoroughly spectacular – after all, the lap times are on a par with Moto3.

McDonald took the lead off the start, followed by Smith, Gutierrez and Smith. The wildcard rider snatched the lead on the very first lap. A group comprising Smith, Gutierrez, McDonald and Granado initially pulled slightly clear, but Andrea Iannone closed the gap after two laps.

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On lap 3, as he entered Turn 3, Gutierrez – who was in third place – lost the front end – a bitter blow to the young Spaniard’s title hopes!

Meanwhile, Smith pulled 0.5 seconds clear of his pursuers. Granado and McDonald fought tooth and nail to catch up with the local hero again.

At the start of the second half of the race, Granado set the fastest lap of the race in 2:09.475 minutes, overtaking Smith. With three laps to go, the top 10 were separated by just one second. With Smith, Granado, McDonald, Iannone and Torres, five nations were represented at the front.

Smith went into the seventh and final lap in the lead. With a lead of 0.5 seconds, the 35-year-old from Oxford was able to cover the final 5.9 km relatively unchallenged. However, the battle for second place between McDonald and Granado, and for fourth place between Iannone and Torres, was all the more intense!

However, on the back straight, McDonald closed in on Smith once again – it became unexpectedly close. The local hero held on to a 0.1-second lead to the finish line and celebrated victory in his very first World Cup race. McDonald and Granado completed the podium. Iannone edged out Torres to take fourth place.

In the overall standings, Granado took the lead with 127 points.