Tyla Rattray makes best of unfortunate Swedish outing -ozzy go-

Tyla could only take a highest result of third in the second race
of the Grand Prix of Sweden under bright but cloudy skies at
Uddevalla for the ninth round of fifteen in the 2007 FIM MX2
World Championship. The 21 year old twisted his knee in the
first sprint and bravely guided his works KTM machine to a top
three berth later in the day to scoop ninth position overall.

Uddevalla, crowded by 28,900 fans, again offered a rough and
technical prospect to the world’s fastest off-road motorcycle
riders. The Scandinavian circuit has been a staple member of
the world championship calendar since the start of the century
and the well-organised event again showed signs of its quality
with further upgrades to the course that included a new start,
first corner and repositioned pit-lane. The terrain itself was
soft – especially after copious amounts of rain leading up to
the meeting – and in sections offered a choice in racing lines
but the tight and compact nature of the narrow layout meant
that overtaking was tricky.

Rattray entered the gate for the two 35 minute and 2 lap motos
in third position. He started averagely in the opening sprint and
was dragged down on the first corner by Antonio Cairoli. A
charge from the rear of the field was curtailed after a flurry of
laps as he caught and twisted his left knee in the ground just
prior to the finish line jump. The Durban-born GP winner pulled
into the pits in pain and fearing the worst but rest, icing and
strapping before the second moto enabled Rattray to take to
the line for the second time.

Moto2 saw an understated but effective performance as ‘Styla’
held fourth position for long periods and finally was promoted
to third for his ? top three finish from eighteen races.

“I did not get the best start in the first moto and went down on
the first corner with Cairoli,” he reflected. “I got back to about
tenth but I put my foot down just before the jump over the finish
and I twisted my knee pretty badly. I came into the pits straight
away because I knew it was not good. It started to swell a little
bit but we iced it and I was ready for the second moto. I had a
good jump but could not do much from the fourth and third
positions I was running. I caught the knee at least twice more in
that race and I was a bit unsure, so I took it easy. The track was
really rough but it was good and I would have enjoyed it more if
I didn’t have to worry about my leg."

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