Herfoss fifth in opening Daytona KOTB qualifying

Wyman takes pole for Harley-Davidson, class rookie Loris Baz second on the grid

The 2025 Moto America season kicks off this weekend on the banks of the Daytona International Speedway as Troy Herfoss begins his King of the Baggers title defence.

Herfoss, riding an Indian factory backed Challenger prepared by S&S Cycle, finished fifth in the opening qualifying session and 1.126 seconds off the pace set by Harley Davidson’s Kyle Wyman. With limited track time prior to the weekends racing, Indian new recruit Loris Baz impressed with second place and was followed by the Harley of James Rispoli and Herfoss’ other Indian teammate, Tyler O’Hara. “It’s good fun, I’ve always dreamed of racing in this amazing place. This first session there is so much to learn with the banking. It’s going well in Q1 but we are having a few tyre issues,” Baz commented, alluding to the excessive tyre wear as the track beds in. Riders were also having to battle windy conditions, with many electing to stay in the pits for long periods.

Earlier in the day, O’Hara finished the opening practice session on top with Herfoss second. Loris Baz wasn’t the only new face in the field with fellow MotoGP alumni Bradley Smith also making his debut, finishing three seconds off the pace in tenth on board the Dynojet Harley-Davidson entry.

This season both Herfoss and O’Hara will scale back their program, ditching the Super Hooligans class to focus on King of the Baggers.

With Supersport being the premier class at Daytona, Tyler Scott (Vision Wheel M4 Ecstar Suzuki) took provisional pole ahead of defending Daytona champ Josh Herrin on the Warhorse Ducati. Richie Escalante was third on the other Vision Wheel Suzuki with road racing legends Peter Hickman (PHR Performance) in eleventh and Michael Dunlop (Milwaukee Ducati) in fifteenth. Shane Lloyd-Maggs is the sole Aussie in the field and sits 22nd on his privateer Yamaha.

The action continues tomorrow with a further qualifying session, the Challenge race and then the first championship race at around 7am Australian time.

King of the Baggers Daytona Qualifying