A former MotoGP rider reigned supreme in a King of th🍎e Baggers race in America on Saturday.

Loris Baz won for the first 🦋time in the MotoAmerica category at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

It was Baz’s꧂ first time on the S&S/Indian 𝓡Motorcycle-backed Indian Challenger, and he had to tackle wet and tricky conditions.

It seemed that Haꦫrley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing’s Kyle Wyman was on course to win the King of the Baggers race on Saturday.

But Baz crept past teammate Troy Herfoss into second, but still trailed Wyman into tಞhe final lap.

Baz brilliantly overtook Wyman on the back straight, then led into 1🃏0-A, and won by .199 of a seconඣd.

French rider Baz is competing in his third MotoAmerica campaign but has switched from the Su🃏perbike category for 2025.

Baz has raced for two seasons in British Sup♏erbikes, nine seasons in World Superbikes, and three in MotoGP.

After winning💎 on ꧑Saturday in America, he said: “Well, it went from just trying to survive to seeing I was catching (gaining ground).

“But at the same time, so many moments. I almost crashed 25 times൩ in that race. I had big moments with the rear, but I feel like I was controlling the rear, playing with that limit.

“But my ma☂in concern was the front. On those three first laps before the race (a practice session), I had a really bad feeling on the front. I was not expecting to fight for the win in that race.

“But then we resta🐈rted, and I could see that everyone was a little bit struggling. Even if I had a lot of problems on the lean angle on the front, I kind of found some lines and I was able to just brake hard straight,✤ not lean the bike too much, and change a little bit my lines.

“It took me a little bit of time to overtake Troy (Herﷺfoss), because wi🥃th that bad feeling and the moments I was having, I didn’t want to take him out.

“It was sketchy, but after two l𝄹aps I saw that I was catching Kyle (Wyman) in a lot of places. So, I went from trying to secure second place to accepting the risk of trying to catch him. I knew that I was on the limit, but I think everyone was.

“I was pretty happy. I knew I had no chance to overtake him anywhere, unless on the straight into 10A. Then ꦦI had a big mome🌺nt in the exit of 10B, but that was the third or fourth time in that race, so I was expecting that.

“I’m super happy. It doesn’t matter the class. When you never rode a bike in the wet and you﷽ go first time, it’s just a matter of how good your crew is to guess setup for you. So, big thanks to them.

“They did a great job to guess the right setup for me. Obviously, I’m much bigger than those guys, than Tyler (O♍’Hara) and Troy (Herfoss), so you can’t copy and paste the setup.

“I’m happy. I’m proud oꩵf what we are doing inside the team and all the people involved. It’s a massive challenge.

“First time riding a bike wit♌h no TC in the wet, it’s been 15🃏 years. It’s something I love, but we have to remember how to do it. So, I’m happy.”