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Victory for new dad Rattray
From as far back as he can remember, motocross pretty much dominated South African Tyla Rattray's life.
Scarcely a weekend went by that was not consumed by his passion, fighting mud, grime, dust, ruts, snow, rain, recalcitrant bikes and the opposition in his quest for ever more lofty achievements. Precious little was allowed to interfere, since Rattray, as all who know him well will testify, is single minded to the umpteenth degree.
There have been many memorable moments along the way as well as some soul-destroying setbacks. Some race successes in the US. A grand prix victory here and there. Even a world title. An ample supply of candidates for 'most memorable race day', therefore. Yet we would hazard a guess that the events of 28 August 2010 are by now more or less indelibly engraved in the lobe of Tyla Rattray's brain catering for most memorable race days.
It all started some hours before the South African set foot on Southwick race park. At round 4am Tyla's first born, Brooke Kayla Rattray, scored the day's first hole shot as she made her presence known. The little one was very considerate. Not only did she time the arrival for early morning so that mom Sam would not be kept from her household chores for too long, but she waited until the calendar clicked over to the 28th and her birth date could reflect dad's racing number.
Tyla was of course not unaware of the impending arrival of the bundle of joy, and thus his day started early. There was still a full day of racing to wade through, however, as the tenth round of the AMA motocross championships would not move dates to accommodate his domestic circumstances.
Southwick is a sandy track, and this would favour the former world champion. During his grand prix years he earned a rock solid reputation as a dancer on sand tracks. Although Southwick is not quite a deep sand monster such as one might encounter at, say, Lommel or Lierop in Europe, it still offers enough of a challenge to separate the (sand) men from the boys.
Apart from his skills on the sand, Rattray is also a machine as far as endurance under these conditions is concerned, and many a rival has found this out the hard way. Where others flag, he peaks. Where others wallow, he dances. He is as relentless as a honey badger hunting for beehives, and equally as tough.
Anyhow, for for fear of digressing too much, we shall return to the telling of our tale. So it came to pass, then, that the strawberry-fresh daddy strode out on the track for his work day. There was a new gleam in his eye, a spring in his step and even more determination in his mind, if such a thing were possible. He disposed of the qualification formalities with some measure of success, posting the second-fastest time, with his only teammate and series leader Christophe Pourcel trumping him buy a mere 3/10ths of a second on the qualifying scoreboard.
Despite his good gate pick, Rattray had a less than ideal launch in race one and joined the proceedings in eighth spot. He quickly made up a few positions, and by half race distance he was nicely placed in third position. The leading pair had by now created quite a bit of distance, but the aforesaid endurance now came to the fore and Rattray continued his relentless chase.
Will Hahn was the next to fall before his expertly-wielded Pro Circuit-powered sword, and now it was only Trey Canard heading him. Race commentator Jeff Emig was running out of superlatives as he described Rattray's march to the front, and where the gap at one stage seemed unbridgeable, it was visibly shrinking with the end of the race approaching.
Rattray was at this stage comfortably posting the fastest lap times of the race, and before long, Canard could feel his minty fresh breath in his neck. They went at it hammer and tongs, but ultimately, Canard prevailed, with Rattray crossing the line 0.411 seconds behind.
It is a truism in motocross that he who finishes second in the first heat has all the power to influence his overall result for the day. A win in the second race would always rake in the overall victory. Rattray was mindful of this as he went to the line, but again his start was not optimal, although better than in the first race. Again he surged forward and there is perhaps no better indication of his frame of mind than the ease with which he dispatched runaway series leader Christophe Pourcel to move into second place.
Again a lone Honda now led him, this time ridden by Justin Barcia. Rattray's growing popularity in the US was glaringly evident by the fact that large portions of the crowd were urging him on as he closed up on an American rider. Again he moved close enough to go into the clinch, but an error cost him some time and caused him to lose the tow. He finished second again, 3 seconds adrift, but his pair of deuces was good enough to hoist him to the top of the overall podium.
The crowd roared its approval as Rattray was called to the top. The joy of fatherhood and the glow of a race day victory sat well on his shoulders. Added to this, his efforts were enough to hoist him back up to third in the championship standings. Although he is some points behind series leader Pourcel, the last shots in the championship have by no means been fired yet, and there is still a possibility that he could vie for championship honours.
It was only his handily-placed ears that prevented Rattray's smile from going all around his head at the post race interview.
"After the prize giving, I'm heading straight for the airport to take the earliest possible flight home," he beamed. "I'm gonna tell the pilot to gas it!"
After getting to know his new offspring, Rattray will be in full preparation for the last two rounds of the series.
RESULTS
250 Class (Moto Finish)
1. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki (2-2)
2. Justin Barcia, Ochlocknee, Ga., Honda (4-1)
3. Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda (1-9)
4. Wil Hahn, Decatur, Texas, Honda (3-5)
5. Christophe Pourcel, France, Kawasaki (7-3)
6. Dean Wilson, Scotland, Kawasaki (5-4)
7. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda (6-7)
8. Gareth Swanepoel, South Africa, Yamaha (10-6)
9. Martin Davalos, Ecuador, Yamaha (11-8)
10. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Yamaha (8-11)
250 Class Championship Standings
1. Christophe Pourcel, France, Kawasaki, 399
2. Trey Canard, Shawnee, Okla., Honda, 386
3. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, Kawasaki, 364
4. Dean Wilson, Scotland, Kawasaki, 363
5. Justin Barcia, Ochlocknee, Ga., Honda, 291
6. Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Honda, 262
7. Blake Wharton, Pilot Point, Texas, Honda, 259
8. Broc Tickle, Holly, Mich., Yamaha, 232
9. Martin Davalos, Ecuador, Yamaha, 210
10. Jake Weimer, Rupert, Idaho, Kawasaki, 195
