BRL EUROPEAN CUP: BIG NAMES FOR ROUND 3 IN NÜRBURGRING

The Bagger Racing League European Cup is ready to return to action for Round 3 of the 2026 season, scheduled to take place from September 4 to 6 at the legendary Nürburgring, as part of the prestigious EURO MOTO weekend.

The European series dedicated to spectacular racing baggers is preparing for one of the most highly anticipated weekends of the year. For the German round, the grid will be further strengthened by new international-level riders, important returning competitors and new Harley-Davidson machines ready to make their debut.

James Ellison and Maurizio Vettor to race two new Harley-Davidsons. Latvian rider Garijs Rožkalns joins Team Spanover

Among the main additions for Round 3 are British rider James Ellison, Italian Maurizio Vettor and Latvian Garijs Rožkalns. The first two riders will take to the Nürburgring aboard two new Harley-Davidsons, while the 34-year-old Latvian will race a Team Spanover Harley-Davidson.

James Ellison brings an outstanding international racing career to the Bagger Racing League, built over more than twenty years of competition at the highest level. European Superstock 1000 Champion in 2000 and 2001, he went on to become Endurance World Champion in 2003. From 2004 onwards, he also competed in MotoGP, riding for WCM, Tech3 Yamaha and Paul Bird Motorsport, as well as gaining extensive experience in the British Superbike Championship, World Superbike and World Supersport.

Completely different, but equally interesting, is the background of Maurizio Vettor. A professional journalist, motorcyclist and content creator, Vettor has been covering the world of motorcycles for years through articles, road and track tests, videos, social media and challenges experienced first-hand. His participation at the Nürburgring therefore goes beyond the sporting result itself: this new BRL experience will also become an opportunity to tell the story of racing baggers from the inside, sharing with the public the sensations, challenges and unique characteristics of a category that many motorcycle fans are still discovering.

Alongside his extensive experience in communication, Vettor also boasts a long and remarkably eclectic sporting career. He has competed on circuits and in endurance racing, taking part, among others, in the KTM Super Duke Trophy and the Moto Guzzi Fast Endurance, as well as finishing Italian CIVS Sidecar Vice-Champion. His racing résumé also includes rally raids and decidedly unconventional challenges, including record attempts and unusual motorcycle adventures.

Completing the trio will be Garijs Rožkalns, born in 1992, a multiple Latvian and Baltic champion and the first Latvian rider to complete the 24 Hours of Le Mans for motorcycles. After competing as a leading rider in the European Junior Cup, Rožkalns is now one of the leading Superstock competitors in the FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC).

At the Nürburgring, he will take on this new challenge with Team Spanover, becoming the first Latvian rider to compete in the Bagger Racing League European Cup.

André Pires and Milan Merckelbagh return

The Nürburgring weekend will also mark the return to the BRL grid of two riders already familiar to fans of the series: André Pires and Milan Merckelbagh.

Portuguese rider André Pires will return to action aboard a Ducati. Portuguese 125 GP Champion in 2011, Superstock 600 Champion in 2012 and Superbike Champion in 2014, Pires has built a career that also includes appearances in some of the most iconic motorcycle races in the world, including the Macau Grand Prix and the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. In 2021, he also competed in the MotoE World Cup with the Avintia Esponsorama team.

It will be a particularly demanding weekend for Milan Merckelbagh. Having already competed in the BRL at Cremona aboard his Harley-Davidson and crowned 2024 Dutch Superbike Champion, he is racing in the EURO MOTO Superbike Championship in 2026 with the Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team.

At the Nürburgring, he will therefore face a true double racing commitment: competing in the EURO MOTO Superbike races aboard his BMW while also returning to his Harley-Davidson during the same weekend for Round 3 of the Bagger Racing League European Cup.

An increasingly international grid

The arrival of new riders and motorcycles, together with the return of familiar BRL competitors, further confirms the international growth of the Bagger Racing League European Cup and raises the level even higher for one of the most eagerly awaited events of the season.

With riders whose experience ranges from MotoGP to the Endurance World Championship, from British Superbike to the Tourist Trophy, as well as Superbike, road racing and national championships, Round 3 at the Nürburgring is set to feature a highly prestigious line-up.

From September 4 to 6, on the legendary German circuit, the spectacle of racing baggers is ready to take centre stage once again.

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