Gerard Bailo, currently second in the Spanish Flat Track Championship, has been chosen to compete in the next two rounds of the Dirt Track Riders Association of Great Britain (DTRA), thereby becoming the third Spanish flat track rider to be rewarded with an opportunity to race against top international competitors since the Spanish series began in last year. The event is scheduled for the 10th and 11th June at Greenfield Dirttrack facility in Lincolnshire.
It all started when American Flat Track star Brad Baker was invited to ride the first round of the inaugural Spanish Flat Track Championship in Valencia in 2016. The intention of the Spanish promoter was to see Spanish riders compete at international level from the very beginning.
Baker, the former AFT Champion, was not the only international star in the Spanish opener. Britain´s up-and-coming Flat Track star Oliver Brindley was also invited.
In that first round, won by Baker, eventual Spanish Champion Ferran Cardús was second and Brindley third just head of Spanish championship runner-up Franc Serra, former 125cc roadracing World Champion Nico Terrol and, in sixth place, Bailo who eventually finished fourth in the championship.
Cardús and Serra were invited by American Flat Track to ride Honda 450s provided by AFT in the Daytona TT as part of an effort by the American promoters to encourage the internationalization of the most American form of motorcycle racing. Cardús was seventh in the TT and Serra just missed a transfer to the main. Cardús, with support from Brad Baker, went on to ride at Atlanta and Charlotte, finishing eighth at the Charlotte half mile.
Brindley, who is now competing full time in AFT, was fifth in Daytona and tenth in Charlotte, showing that top British and Spanish riders are becoming more and more competitive, capable of making mains against the world´s best.
Now Anthony Brown (DTRA Promoter) and his team, as part of their program to bring top internationals to Britain, has extended an invitation to the Spanish Championship promoters to send a rider of their choice to compete in rounds 3 and 4 of the Maxxis Flat Track Nationals at Greenfield Dirttrack in Lincolnshire.
Iana Petrova-Noyes, CEO at On Track Motorsport, promoters of the Spanish series, selected Gerard Bailo #17. “Both our 2016 champion and runner-up, Ferran Cardús and Franc Serra, had the opportunity to compete in the USA thanks to AFT, so now we want to give Gerard Bailo, fourth in the points in 2016 and currently running second in our 2017 series, a chance to race abroad and experience international competition.”
Bailo was second to reigning Spanish Champion Cardús in his most recent ride on the Valencia quarter mile. The Spaniard will ride a KTM 450 SX-F supplied by the British promoter.
Top Brits Aidan Collins, Alan Birtwistle, Toby Hales and George Pickering will remember competing against Bailo in last year´s Superprestigio in Barcelona. DTRA action begins Saturday night on the Greenfield oval and continues Sunday on the TT course.
To find out more about Spanish Flat Track, click here.