Often in Rattray's career he has not been the fastest, or most talented, or most naturally-gifted rider in a particular line up, yet he has carved himself a reputation for coming up with the goods despite the fact that the dice may not always be loaded in his favour. He can credit this to a dogged determination, a never-say-die attitude, his habit of turning weak points into strengths, a work ethic that could have seen him in the running as mayor of Sparta, and to top it all off, good, old-fashioned, fire-in-the-belly guts. If race conditions are tough, say for example with a track that resembles a bombing range and weather that has the desert lizards scurrying for cover, you could do worse than backing the South African with a few dollars.
Round two of the AMA American motocross championships went down at Freestone Raceway in Wortham Texas this weekend, and had all the ingredients to prove the point. When the Lone Star State does something, it goes large, and the heat and humidity that struck the riders in the face as soon as they left the comfort of their race trucks was on a Texas level. It was clear from the first practice that the riders' powers of endurance would be wrung out to the max on the day.
Rattray is as businesslike as they come when it comes to race day duties, and he slotted in the seventh-fastest time in qualifying. This may not have seemed a good harbinger of things to come, but by now everyone knows that the Rattray afterburners kick in all the harder the longer the day progresses.
Rattray slipped his Pro Circuit Kawasaki into fourth spot as race 1 got going. The pace up front was fierce, but nonetheless he gained one spot in the third round when team-mate Blake Baggett moulded himself to the scenery. By lap five it was an all-green affair up front again as Rattray moved into second spot behind team-mate Dean Wilson. The Scottish-born youngster had a good rhythm going, and Rattray trailed him home by 8 seconds to claim second spot.
The conditions were truly torrid by the time race 2 rolled along. In the USA, the 250cc bikes go last, and by then the track had had a good working over. Rattray managed to skirt all the usual first-corner fun and mayhem, and charged into proceedings in fifth place. By lap five he was in third position and homing in on local hero Kyle Cunningham. A few laps later he moved into second spot and virtually had the overall win for the day in hand.
Behind him though, Wilson was also carving through the field, and was making a bold throw for third position. If that happened, Rattray would lose the overall victory, unless he could move to the front and win the race.
Justin Barcia was at one stage enjoying close to a nine-second lead, but Rattray was on the way. Where others flagged, Rattray surged, and he made visible inroads into Barcia's lead, and with a few laps to go, the result was a foregone conclusion. When the attack came, Barcia did not put up any resistance, and for the last three laps, Rattray created open air between himself and the pack behind.
With a second and first in the heats respectively, there was only one possible outcome for the overall result, and Rattray beamed as he stepped up to accept the winner's champagne.
He has now moved into second position in the championship points standings, 5 points behind team-mate Wilson, and this promises for a season-long battle between the Kawasaki-mounted riders.
There was no doubting the quiet satisfaction in Rattray's voice as he reflected on his race day.
"The whole race day actually went pretty well," he stated matter-of-factly. "I felt strong and my good preparations seems to have paid off. I knew I had to push for the win in the last race to get the overall, and I felt I had Justin when I saw I was catching him a few seconds a lap late in the race. I am happy with the result and that we can keep Mitch's bikes at the front."
250 Motocross Freestone Results:
1. Tyla Rattray (Kawasaki) 2-12. Dean Wilson (Kawasaki) 1-3
3. Kyle Cunningham (Yamaha) 3-4
4. Justin Barcia (Honda) 9-2
5. Eli Tomac (Honda) 5-6
6. Martin Davalos (Suzuki) 10-7
7. Matt Lemoine (KTM) 8-11
8. Cole Seely (Honda) 14-8
9. Blake Baggett (Kawasaki) 7-16
10. Gannon Audette (Yamaha) 12-12
11. Gareth Swanepoel (Yamaha) 4-28
12. Broc Tickle (Kawasaki) 39-5
13. Lance Vincent (Honda) 16-10
14. Austin Howell (Suzuki) 18-9
15. Nico Izzi (Honda) 6-29
250 Motocross Championship Points:
1. Dean Wilson, 902. Tyla Rattray, 85
3. Eli Tomac, 69
4. Blake Baggett, 66
5. Kyle Cunningham, 64
6. Justin Barcia, 52
7. Gareth Swanepoel, 46
8. Martin Davalos, 44
9. Cole Seely, 42
10. Broc Tickle, 38
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