Pit lane to podium
High-octane racing heats up at the FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup
By Jeremy Pick and Alan Dykes
Photos by Polina Krasnova
The FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup debuted in 2026, bringing the excitement of intense track battles to international audiences at MotoGP circuits in the US and across Europe. Developed by Harley-Davidson Factory Racing, in partnership with MotoGP, and Dorna Sports, the cup features six rounds as part of the MotoGP weekend race schedule.
Teams race on purpose-built bikes, based on the H-D® Road Glide®, developed by the Harley-Davidson Factory Race Team to produce over 200bhp and speeds in excess of 185mph (300km/h). They promise a powerful display of world-class V-Twin performance and technical capability.
The Enthusiast® joined Australian team Joe Rascal Racing at Mugello Circuit, Italy, to glimpse behind the scenes at the second calendar event which saw riders Eric Granado and Archie McDonald take second and third place podium slots in both Race 1 and Race 2. This, combined with Archie’s first and third places at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA), left the relative newcomer in first place standing, with team-mate Eric in second place before Assen.
“At Joe Rascal Racing we race to win, as we showed in the first round at COTA,” says “Chief Rascal” James Tonna, owner of three Harley-Davidson dealerships in Australia, which were relaunched in 2025 under the Joe Rascal brand. “These are serious race bikes – fast, angry, and the sound as they hit the straights is amazing. The amount of guys from Moto3, Moto2, MotoGP who came into the pit lane at COTA just to hear what the hell that sound was, was incredible.”
“The Harley engineers are phenomenal,” he adds. “There’s rumours that these bikes were built by external companies, but that’s factually incorrect. The engines and chassis were built on the Harley-Davidson production line in Milwaukee. Harley has fully engineered these bikes. We do use other parts, just like every other racing team does: Brembo, STM, Bonamici, Öhlins.”
Team Manager Luis Borras adds: “This is a new series, so at Joe Rascal Racing we also created a new team from scratch. After the outstanding success in the first race we are focused on identifying what we can do better, learning and making improvements so every race will be faster and the racing will be even more exciting.”
Meet the team
We caught up with the team in to find out more about what makes Joe Rascal Racing tick. From the founding fathers and riders to the faces working behind the scenes to make sure the team is performing to the best of their ability. Let’s meet some of the key members…
James Tonna
Co-founder and “Chief Rascal”
The Australian entrepreneur with a successful Harley-Davidson dealership franchise and the crazy idea of breaking into racing.
Archie McDonald
Rider
A rising star on the circuit who has already earned the nickname “Mad Dog” for his daring competitive style.
Eric Granado
Rider
An experienced racer and winner of the 2017 FIM CEV Moto2 European Championship, now turning his hand to bagger racing.
Nacho Artagaveytia
Team Technicians
His preparation and checks are keeping the team safe and the Harleys in exceptional condition, so that both can perform at their best.
Lidia Ceruzuela
Crew Chief
The eyes in the sky – her analyses and feedback through the team intercoms steer the team’s strategy on the track to optimise their chances of success.
Luis Borras
Team Manager
Also the Crew Chief for Archie, Louis looks at the bigger picture when it comes to team and time management, keeping everyone organised and on track.
Need to know: Joe Rascal Racing is the only H-D dealership-backed team in the Bagger World Cup. It was born out of entrepreneur and motorcycle fanatic James Tonna and co-founder Barry Fitzpatrick’s takeover of three Australian Harley-Davidson dealerships in 2025. They had the desire to prove H-D’s racing heritage on the world stage, creating an iconic new motorcycle brand in the process.
A day at the races
We spent a day with Joe Rascal Racing a Mugello, check out the team in action below and find out more about what goes on behind the scenes at the racetrack.
Every motorcycle and rider has their own tech team. After arriving on a truck, each motorcycle is checked and re-set up to reflect the rider’s preferences, the most recent test data, analysis of the current track’s nuances and the weather conditions. Bikes are prepared for Friday’s test and qualifying laps and all of the telematic tracking equipment is set up and tested.
Having worked late into the night, the team normally arrives by 7.30am each day to ensure everything is double checked. Wheels are sent to the Dunlop team on-site to have the correct tyres fitted and balanced. When returned, both tyres and rims are warmed to specific temperatures in special tents in preparation for the track sessions. Suspension is set up as per each rider’s preference – with Öhlins also on-site for any support.
Even the fuel tanks are removed and weighed with precise amounts of fuel added for the circuit to carefully optimise weight.
Telematics feedback is analysed; rider feedback is assessed; all components are checked.
Fuel tanks are weighed. Precise adjustments are made and wheels go back to Dunlop for new tyres.
Archie McDonald’s second test circuit on Friday. After this, further adjustments are made, riders are debriefed and tactics confirmed for the qualifying run.
A little friendly rivalry goes a long way – with podium finishes at both COTA and Mugello, that’s certainly the case with Archie “Mad Dog” McDonald (left) and Eric Granado (right), seen here at Mugello with some of the team.
Joe Rascal Racing’s Lidia Cerezuela crunches data during the practice and qualifying laps to ensure all of the pre-race track experience is transferred to optimise bike set-ups.
Saturday race days feature two races, both adding points to riders’ tallies. Bagger World Cup races are normally scheduled in the morning on MotoGP weekends, so the full team assembles again by 7.30am on Saturday and each techspert gets to work, checking their bikes all over again and applying learnings from Friday. Then it’s Race 1, closely monitored by the team live on televisions.
James Tonna has huge respect for what Harley-Davidson has done with bagger racing. “The thing we find [working with Harley-Davidson] is it’s not what we can do for Harley. The very first question we get is how can they help us? It’s a phenomenal environment they’ve created. We’re using the sixth generation of bagger-racing-developed bikes this year… any change now is literally milliseconds of benefits. That’s the level these bikes are at.”
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