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MX2 PODIUM JOY FOR RATTRAY AND NUNN IN SOUTH AFRICA
17 July 2006 - KTM-Sportmotorcycles AG
Red Bull Champ KTM riders Tyla Rattray and Carl Nunn have finished second and third respectively in front of 25,300 spectators at Sun City for the South African Grand Prix and the tenth round of fifteen in the FIM Motocross World Championships.
The Sun City track was softer and offered more traction in comparison to previous years with the hard-pack a little deeper in places providing more ruts and lines. The grip was still difficult to gauge in places but the presence of many jumps and several rhythm sections added a pleasant aesthetic to the layout with plenty of air-time for the riders.
The entirely man-made circuit just inside the confines of the holiday resort (180km from Johannesburg and some 2000 metres above sea level) was again impressive in its organisation with grandstands surrounding two sides of the course and a neat paddock and infrastructure. Rattray gained pole position by winning the first qualification heat at his home Grand Prix on Saturday. The 20 year old then engaged in a juicy first moto duel with David Philippaerts that saw the pair circulating closely for the lead. Rattray tried to pull away but Philippaerts studied the lines of his fellow 250 SX-F rider and another confrontation led to one or two fraught moments with the duo almost colliding. Despite a last lap attempt by Rattray Philippaerts held strong for his sixth moto win of the season and fifth from the last seven.
Carl Nunn had started brightly, as had Marc de Reuver, but the British Champion faded back to 5th while De Reuver crashed out of second place when starting to make his presence felt with his team-mates. Nunn aced the hole shot in the second moto while both Philippaerts and Rattray had work to do on the opening laps. The Italian unfortunately saw a fourth GP win go up in smoke when he crashed while trying to overtake Billy Mackenzie and smashed his rear wheel. He could only clock another half a dozen laps before he was unable to continue due to the wheel’s condition deteriorating. Nunn lead for the first half of the race but was passed by Antonio Cairoli who would go on to own the moto and also his first GP of the season. Rattray was slightly more hesitant in moving through and the Italian Yamaha rider had pulled out a suitable gap. Nunn resisted the advances of Christophe Pourcel to finish third and confirm his first podium celebration of the year. De Reuver started badly and retired from 12th when he fell and could not remount losing a lot of time and positions. Jonathan Barragan set the fifth quickest lap in MX1 Timed Practice but any chance of a decent first race result was ruled out when a crash robbed the Spaniard of his front brake and also damaged the exhaust that wobbled free with several laps to go until the chequered flag. The subsequent one minute noise penalty dropped Barragan down to 13th. He then started badly in the second moto on a rougher track and clawed his way through to sixth but a long way behind Kevin Strijbos in fifth. The overall classification saw him ranked eighth. The World Championship standings show the potency of the 250 SX-F with all four KTM riders in the top ten. Philippaerts is 3rd, Rattray 4th, De Reuver 5th and Nunn has now moved up to 6th. 50 points separate Philippaerts from leader Christophe Pourcel and Rattray trails by 75. Barragan holds sixth in the MX1 contest but is 87 points behind Ken de Dycker in fifth. Round eleven will be the first of the last five meetings in the 2006 competition. The Loket circuit will once again entertain the Czech Republic Grand Prix in two weeks time.
Tyla Rattray:
“I did not feel any pressure today and it was fun racing in front of the South African crowd, they were going crazy around the back of the circuit and I really enjoyed it. It was nice to race with Toni and David for the lead and give the fans a show. In the second moto Toni made some good laps and he was just a little bit fitter than me. I will be working hard over these next two weeks so that I can come out at Loket and take a win again. I am quite far behind in the Championship but we still have a lot of races to go and anything can happen.”
Carl Nunn:
“The team thought all of our starts could be better so they changed some things and they really worked for me this weekend. It made the difference. In the first race I went backwards a little bit but in the second moto I led a lap, then another and then another. I just kept on wanting to cross that finish line in the lead and had a good momentum. When Tyla and Antonio came past me I did not want to slip backwards again and tried to stick with Tyla; it was a cool race. The main thing for me is that I have never been know to travel that well and this is probably my furthest podium away from the UK! That means a lot to me and it’s satisfying.” Marc de Reuver:
“I was good from the start in the first race and could keep up with Philippaerts quite easily. I almost overtook him but then I made a crash. I was so angry with myself and I jumped outside the track a few times and didn’t finish the race. In the second moto I was riding smooth but just not fast enough. I was trying to make a good race but I crashed again and my leg was underneath my bike. I could not move and no-one helped me with the bike. I don’t want to make excuses because it was a bad weekend for me.” David Philippaerts:
“I did not start well in the first moto but I had a good feeling with the track. I saw Tyla was behind me when I got in front and he went through so I had a good look at his lines. I was quicker in some parts of the track and he was better in others. We came close with some of our lines but I did not touch him. I was really happy to take the win but in the second moto I had some bad luck with the rear disc and could not finish.” Jonathan Barragan:
“In the last few GPs I have had a few crashes and haven’t been able to train in a good way because of small injuries. We have been working on the bike a lot and now we are trying things again with the engine; it is improving all the time. The second race was the better one for me but I started poorly and it was hard to come through because the track was pretty rough and it was difficult physically.” MX1 Moto1 1. EVERTS Stefan BEL YAMAHA 39:49.835
2. COPPINS Joshua NZL HONDA 39:55.390
3. RAMON Steve BEL SUZUKI 40:01.544
4. LEOK Tanel EST KAWASAKI 40:09.380
5. DE DYCKER Ken BEL HONDA 40:11.548
6. MELOTTE Cedric BEL YAMAHA 40:43.141
7. LEURET Pascal FRA HONDA 40:52.171
8. PRIEM Manuel BEL YAMAHA 40:54.758
9. STRIJBOS Kevin BEL SUZUKI 41:01.621
10. BILL Julien SUI YAMAHA 41:17.389
13. BARRAGAN Jonathan SPA KTM MX1 Moto2 1. EVERTS Stefan BEL YAMAHA 40:19.139
2. COPPINS Joshua NZL HONDA 40:23.730
3. RAMON Steve BEL SUZUKI 40:28.354
4. LEOK Tanel EST KAWASAKI 40:56.690
5. STRIJBOS Kevin BEL SUZUKI 40:59.869
6. BARRAGAN Jonathan SPA KTM 41:44.862
7. DE DYCKER Ken BEL HONDA 41:52.066
8. LEURET Pascal FRA HONDA 41:56.439
9. PYRHONEN Antti FIN TM 41:58.712
10. BILL Julien SUI YAMAHA 41:59.676 MX1 Overall classification 1. EVERTS Stefan BEL YAMAHA 50
2. COPPINS Joshua NZL HONDA 44
3. RAMON Steve BEL SUZUKI 40
4. LEOK Tanel EST KAWASAKI 36
5. DE DYCKER Ken BEL HONDA 30
6. STRIJBOS Kevin BEL SUZUKI 28
7. LEURET Pascal FRA HONDA 27
8. BARRAGAN Jonathan SPA KTM 23
9. PYRHONEN Antti FIN TM 22
10. BILL Julien SUI YAMAHA 22 MX1 World Championship standings after 10 of 15 rounds 1. EVERTS Stefan BEL 492
2. STRIJBOS Kevin BEL 356
3. RAMON Steve BEL 334
4. LEOK Tanel EST 330
5. DE DYCKER Ken BEL 322
6. BARRAGAN J. SPA 235
7. LEURET Pascal FRA 186
8. MELOTTE Cedric BEL 172
9. GARCIA VICO J. SPA 172
10. PRIEM Manuel BEL 168 MX2 Moto1 1. PHILIPPAERTS David ITA KTM 39:58.600
2. RATTRAY Tyla RSA KTM 39:59.852
3. CAIROLI Antonio ITA YAMAHA 40:25.932
4. SWANEPOEL Gareth RSA KAWASAKI 40:31.269
5. NUNN Carl GBR KTM 40:33.081
6. SEARLE Tommy GBR KAWASAKI 40:37.129
7. GUARNERI Davide ITA YAMAHA 40:41.051
8. POURCEL Sébastien FRA KAWASAKI 40:44.590
9. CHIODI Alessio ITA YAMAHA 40:44.976
10. POURCEL Christophe FRA KAWASAKI 40:45.603
28. DE REUVER Marc NED KTM 16:48.436 MX2 Moto2 1. CAIROLI Antonio ITA YAMAHA 40:44.327
2. RATTRAY Tyla RSA KTM 40:49.137
3. NUNN Carl GBR KTM 40:50.577
4. POURCEL Christophe FRA KAWASAKI 41:05.919
5. MONNI Manuel ITA KTM 41:07.800
6. GONCALVES Rui POR KTM 41:10.658
7. POURCEL Sébastien FRA KAWASAKI 41:13.917
8. SEARLE Tommy GBR KAWASAKI 41:14.473
9. GUARNERI Davide ITA YAMAHA 41:22.621
10. SWANEPOEL Gareth RSA KAWASAKI 41:37.012
26. DE REUVER Marc NED KTM 25:08.474
27. PHILIPPAERTS David ITA KTM 25:52.667 MX2 Overall classification 1. CAIROLI Antonio ITA YAMAHA 45
2. RATTRAY Tyla RSA KTM 44
3. NUNN Carl GBR KTM 36
4. POURCEL Christophe FRA KAWASAKI 29
5. SWANEPOEL Gareth RSA KAWASAKI 29
6. SEARLE Tommy GBR KAWASAKI 28
7. POURCEL Sébastien FRA KAWASAKI 27
8. MONNI Manuel ITA KTM 26
9. GUARNERI Davide ITA YAMAHA 26
10. PHILIPPAERTS David ITA KTM 25
29. DE REUVER Marc NED KTM 0 MX2 World Championship standings after 10 of 15 rounds 1. POURCEL C. FRA 379
2. CAIROLI Antonio ITA 347
3. PHILIPPAERTS D. ITA 329
4. RATTRAY Tyla RSA 305
5. DE REUVER Marc NED 284
6. NUNN Carl GBR 241
7. MACKENZIE Billy GBR 228
8. SEARLE Tommy GBR 224
9. SWANEPOEL Gareth RSA 210
10. POURCEL S. FRA 207
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