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Rattray thrills crowds at SA Grand Prix

22 July 2008

It was mission accomplished for South African Tyla Rattray, on a Red Bull KTM, when he increased his MX2 category world championship lead at the Leatt-Brace South African Motocross Grand Prix at the Alkmaar circuit in Nelspruit on the weekend.

The overall win went to Rattray's team-mate, Briton Tommy Searle, who won the opening moto and was second in the second race. Rattray clinched second overall with a third and a popular second moto victory, with Frenchman Nicolas Aubin third overall on the Ricci Racing Yamaha.

Rattray arrived in Nelspruit with a 14-point lead over reigning world champion Antonio Cairoli, of Italy, on the Red Bull De Carli Yamaha, with Searle next up, a further nine points in arrears. For the unfortunate Cairoli, the trip to Nelspruit was a disaster.

Retired

The Italian injured his right knee in a first race clash with countryman Davide Guarneri on the Ricci Racing Yamaha. Cairoli was forced to retire and left Alkmaar without a point after also pulling out of race two.

Rattray now leads Searle by 25 points, with the Briton 38 points ahead of Cairoli. The Italian still has a 70-point lead over Shaun Simpson in fourth, but with damaged knee ligaments his season is in the balance.

"It was a good day for me, but I feel for Antonio," said Rattray. "I made a couple of mistakes in the first moto, but it all fell into place in the second race.

"I got a good start and after that I just concentrated on putting together consistent laps."

Fall

In the opening heat Rattray got off to an indifferent start. He got caught up in the pack and an early fall at turn nine saw him drop back to sixth place.

Searle was always going to catch Aubin and Rattray did well to recover. When the South African found some rythm he hauled in Shaun Simpson (KTM UK) and Frenchman Steve Frossard on the CLS Kawasaki.

Race two turned into a breeze for Rattray. He grabbed the hole shot and quickly built up a good lead over Searle, who appeared to be quite happy to settle for second and the overall GP win.

'Thank you'

Afterwards, the South African star said: "I would like to say a big thank you to the fans because they were going crazy for me when I had the lead. I made a little mistake in the first race and went down. From then I just needed to push as hard as I could.

"The second moto was difficult as the track had become much rougher, but I ripped the holeshot and put down some consistent laps. I feel sorry for Antonio as I have been in a similar position before, but this is just part of the sport."

Behind the two frontrunners, an interesting battle developed between Frossard, Simpson and Aubin. Frossard finally pulled clear of Simpson who, in turn, put a little daylight between himself and Aubin.

Rattray returns to his base in Europe and a familiar track in Lommel, which will host the Grand Prix of Belgium in two weeks time.

MX2 Moto1

1. Tommy Searle (KTM); 2. Nico Aubin (Yam); 3. Tyla Rattray (KTM); 4. Shaun Simpson (KTM); 5. Steven Frossard (Kaw); 6. Xavier Boog (Suz); 7. Marvin Musquin (Hon); 8. Davide Guarneri (Yam); 9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (KTM); 10. Stephen Sword (Kaw); 11. Rui Goncalves (KTM); 12. Pascal Leuret (Suz); 13. Manuel Monni (Yam); 14. Greg Aranda (Kaw); 15. Alessandro Lupino (Yam); 16. Jake Nicholls (Suz); 17. Jeremy Tarroux (KTM); 18. Deny Philippaerts (Yam); 19. Michael Kok (KTM); 20. Elliot Banks-Browne (Suz)

MX2 Moto2

1. Tyla Rattray (KTM); 2. Tommy Searle (KTM); 3. Steven Frossard (Kaw); 4. Shaun Simpson (KTM); 5. Nico Aubin (Yam); 6. Jeremy Van Horebeek (KTM); 7. Xavier Boog (Suz); 8. Marvin Musquin (Hon); 9. Anthony Boissiere (KTM); 10. Pascal Leuret (Suz); 11. Jake Nicholls (Suz); 12. Jeremy Tarroux (KTM); 13. Stephen Sword (Kaw); 14. Manuel Monni (Yam); 15. Davide Guarneri (Yam); 16. Alessandro Lupino (Yam); 17. Rui Goncalves (KTM); 18. Michael Kok (KTM); 19. Deny Philippaerts (Yam); 20. Ross Branch (Kaw)

MX2 Overall Classification

1. Tommy Searle (KTM); 2. Tyla Rattray (KTM); 3. Nico Aubin (Yam); 4. Steven Frossard (Kaw); 5. Shaun Simpson (KTM); 6. Xavier Boog (Suz); 7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (KTM); 8. Marvin Musquin (Hon); 9. Pascal Leuret (Suz); 10. Stephen Sword (Kaw); 11. Davide Guarneri (Yam); 12. Jake Nicholls (Suz); 13. Manuel Monni (Yam); 14. Rui Goncalves (KTM); 15. Jeremy Tarroux (KTM); 16. Anthony Boissiere (KTM); 17. Alessandro Lupino (Yam); 18. Greg Aranda (Kaw); 19. Michael Kok (KTM); 20. Deny Philippaerts (Yam)

MX2 World Championship standings
(after 10 of 15 rounds)

1. Tyla Rattray (416); 2. Tommy Searle (395); 3. Antonio Cairoli (357); 4. Shaun Simpson (287); 5. Nico Aubin (243); 6. Rui Goncalves (241); 7. Xavier Boog (211); 8. Jeremy Van Horebeek (197); 9. Steven Frossard (196); 10. Manuel Monni (187); 11. Marvin Musquin (173); 12. Stephen Sword (170); 13. Anthony Boissiere (158); 14. Jeremy Tarroux (140); 15. Davide Guarneri (133); 16. Greg Aranda (101); 17. Joel Roelants (99); 18. Gautier Paulin (95); 19. Carl Nunn (73); 20. Wyatt Avis (56)

MX1 category

In the MX1 category, Spanish rider Jonathan Barragan upstaged the championship leaders. The AXO KTM captured a third in the opening moto and a win in the second, which were enough to give him his second Grand Prix win of the year.

Second and third overall were German Max Nagl, on the Red Bull KTM, and reigning world champion Steve Ramon, of Belgium, on the Team Teka Suzuki.

The trend where no rider has been able to dominate this season continued. Ramon won the opening moto, but ended up a distant eighth in the second race, while championship leader Davide Philippaerts, from Italy, picked up a second and a sixth.

In the championship standings there was a one point swing between Philippaerts and Ramon. The Italian now leads the Belgian by 11 points after going to Nelspruit with a 12-point advantage.

First moto

The opening moto provided a thrilling race with Ramon and Nagl fighting out tremendous duel. The world champion gradually ground down Nagl and only three minutes and two laps remained of the race when Ramon finally found a way past the German rider.

The rapidly tiring Nagl then came under fire from Philippaerts, on the Monster Motocross Yamaha, and Barragan. The unfortunate Nagl was also passed by both Philippaerts and Barragan and eventually had to settle for fourth place, with the top five rounded out by Ramon's team-mate Ken de Dycker.

Nagl was again on the wrong end of a late challenge in race two. This time around he was caught by Barragan and then had to fight off Frenchman Sebastien Pourcell, on the GPKR Kawasaki, over the last three laps.

New Zealander Josh Coppins (Monster Motocross Yamaha) and Briton Billy McKenzie, on the CAS Honda, were fourth and fifth after steady rides. Philippaerts was a disappointing sixth and Ramon may have had a few words with de Dycker after being passed by his team-mate a couple of laps from the end.

SAinfo reporter