Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup: Eric Granado claims maiden victory at Assen

Eric Granado is the fastest rider in the fifth race of the Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup in Assen! The Brazilian won the nine-lap race from pole position at the TT Circuit in Assen. The second race of the weekend takes place on Sunday at 3.30 pm. This makes him the new leader in the overall standings of the Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup.

And it was a close race in the ‘Cathedral of Speed’: right from the start, the first tight battle began: pole-setter Granado lost his lead to former MotoGP and Superbike rider Andrea Iannone, who had started from second on the grid. Granado then dropped further back: Jordi Torres (starting from fourth) and then championship leader Archie McDonald overtook him – with McDonald even moving up to take the lead.

McDonald with a special livery

Impressive: the Australian made up a whopping five places on the first lap. For McDonald, it is a special race weekend for a sad reason. His brother, Toby McDonald, passed away earlier this year. The Joe Rascal Racing team is competing at Assen with a commemorative livery in honour of Toby. As well as commemorating his brother, the livery is also intended to send a message: namely, to raise awareness of mental health issues and encourage people to look after those around them.

Jordi Torres makes his debut

Oscar Gutierrez, who had crashed on Friday, had secured third place in qualifying. However, he slipped down to fifth place in the early stages of the race on the 200 PS machines. Jordi Torres is a new addition this weekend. The two-time MotoE champion is replacing Cody Wyman in the Australian Joe Rascal Racing team. Joe Rascal Racing currently holds the top two positions in the championship. Torres started from fourth and held that position initially.

On lap 2, Iannone then successfully put pressure on McDonald once again. Iannone has been competing in the Harley Manufacturers’ Cup since Mugello. There, the Italian went on to win the Sunday race straight away at his home race weekend. The top four were bunched closely together – promising tight battles on the race Harleys right until the end of the nine-lap race at the TT Circuit Assen.

Travis Wyman had to serve a long-lap penalty, dropping him from 7th to 10th place, and he eventually crossed the line well adrift in last place. With four laps to go, Eric Granado fought his way through to the front, leaving McDonald, Gutierrez and Iannone behind him in that order.

Granado pulls away

Granado clearly felt right at home on his race Harley in the closing stages, extending his lead and eventually leaving Gutierrez and McDonald trailing at a comfortable distance. Jordi Torres fell back slightly after wobbling slightly in the final chicane. Iannone snatched third place shortly before the end.

With his first victory in the Bagger World Cup, Granado now tops the standings, nine points ahead of McDonald, who had led the standings going into the race. Oscar Gutierrez is third with 84 points, eleven points behind Granado.