Bagger Party Race - Ampfing/Bayer • Thunderbike

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Bagger Party Race – Ampfing/Bayer

The Bagger Party Race Series 2023 rocks!

The Bagger Party Race as a spectacular race series: The first “Bagger Shootouts” in Ampfing/Bavaria on May 13 was a complete success!

The weather forecasts sounded more like water level reports from the Inn and Isar rivers, but Peter was on the side of the motorcyclists: At the first “Bagger Party Race” on the kart track in Ampfing above the Isar, the participants not only had a dry race day, but also saw sunshine in parts. Spectator numbers were impressive and both in the paddock and on the track, spectators saw some impressive racing action – and in one case, a race “in the pit lane” to get the performance bagger set up by Harley-Leipzig back on the track. With this exciting start, the “Bagger Party Race” series already whets the appetite for the next events!

This weekend, the war horses are motorized, which is still normal 701 years later, but the warriors in the leather saddles are also on the road in wild clusters. Over the winter, they put a lot of time into planning the series and running the events, which is quite something to see: Even if the focus of the race action is not on “winning”, the individual race runs on the narrow kart tracks are absolutely spectacular! The riders give themselves nothing and show the audience spectacular race action with the heavy tourers of the three brands Harley-Davidson, Indian and BMW. In the meantime, the classes are sorted and have even grown: In the “Stock Class” only a few modifications are allowed, chassis and equipment correspond to the series, the exhaust systems come from main sponsor Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde. In the “Performance Class” a budget of € 15,000 is allowed, which quickly evaporates in the chassis, carbon panniers and other racing accessories – the three performance racers delivered spectacular three-way battles that were even decided by a finish photo in the last race!

Bagger Race - Stock & Performance

Hooligan Bikes

New – and no less spectacular – are the Hooligan Bikes, with BMW relying on the R-nineT, Indian sending an FTR 1200 into the race and Harley forging a completely new, hot iron. Race director André Jäger from Harley-Davidson built a Super-Moto Pan American of the very finest: custom-made Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde system, Thunderbike footpegs and more than stylistic borrowings from the Sportster S – if Harley-Davidson doesn’t come up with some interesting ideas? Completion? The day before the race! The three hooligans felt right at home on the tight cornering track and brought spectacular lean angles to the asphalt – without the grinding and scratching symphony of the fat diggers.

Das hat wirklich Spaß gemacht!

Each class at the events has three runs, with the final Hooligan Run sacrificed in favor of an “All Out” demo of all drivers to the schedule. From the very first run of the “Stock Class”, Peet Gerads of Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde showed that his racing experience is exceedingly versatile: He was ahead in all three “Stock” runs and rolled over the line as the winner three times! And added one more in between: In the “Performance” class, Yves Grund gave a spectacular performance on the “Lil’ Baggy” Harley-Davidson race bagger and was in the lead when his front wheel slipped away. Descent and rollover were no less spectacular and provided plenty of work for the pit team, while the driver fortunately remained unharmed. This made way for Peet in the second run. He had also crossed the finish line first in the second run and still felt fit enough for a performance run.

In the process, the Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde man of the first hour not only kept in the slipstream of Thilo Günther and Luca Grünwald, but even took the lead several times despite inferior engine power! Meanwhile, in the paddock, the pit crew fought an insane battle with duct tape and wrenches to repair the badly battered Harley excavator. The miracle happened: During the third “performance” run, the Harley was running again, albeit with plenty of Duct Tape to keep the fairing in place – and again delivered the tough duel with Thilo Günther (Indian Challenger) and Luca Grünwald (BMW R-18) which was decided only after the finish by video. Breathtaking excavator action at its best!

With stunt shows by Dirk Manderbach during the breaks and the extensive dealer park in the paddock, including demoride options and Manderbach’s wheelie simulator, the supporting program was also well attended and informative. Only the Blues Brothers Tribute Band “Blue Onions” had bad luck, because shortly after the award ceremony the sky opened the floodgates and the brilliant Blues Brothers Show raged in front of a much smaller audience than expected. Conclusion: A top organized event with spectacular racing action! You can be curious about the next events – it’s worth going there!