Rattray and Pourcel Go 1-2 Again
By TMX Archives on 15th Jun 10
Rattray and Pourcel went 1-2 for the second consecutive week but this time it was Rattray who claimed his first career AMA overall win. The South African rider went 2-2 for the victory.
Rattray had been knocking on the door forhis first overall win for a while, winning a moto at Steel City in 2009and also taking a moto win last weekend in Freestone. This week,Rattray didn't get a moto win, but two consistent races gave him hisfirst overall title.
"It feels good to get my first overallwin,” said Rattray. "I've been trying to get this for the last twoyears and I got moto wins, but to claim the overall is what I need todo. Consistency is the key to this championship so I'd rather go 1-1,but going 2-2 for the overall is still good.”
Pourcelcontinued to lead the 250-class championship on the strength ofconsistent top-five finishes. The French rider's style seemed to fitevery track he has raced on and he has won at least one moto at allthree events this season.
"This is a very good track,” saidPourcel. "Everything was going good for me in the first moto until Iwent down. In the second moto I was able to stay up and race for thewin. I extended my championship lead so I'm happy about that.”
Wilsonput together two consistent motos on a difficult day at High PointRaceway. The weather wreaked havoc on both 250 motos causing the trackto change dramatically throughout both races.
"This wasn't theweekend I wanted,” said Wilson. "In the second moto, I got a good startand I was just behind Chris (Pourcel), following his lines when I crossrutted on a jump face and I'm not sure what happened but I went overthe bars. It was a pretty rough weekend for me. I didn't feel good ineither moto.”
With three races complete, the MonsterEnergy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team is sitting pretty in the 250-classpoints standings. Pourcel leads the way with 129 points, with Rattrayin second with 102 and Wilson sitting third with 100.
Reed'sday at High Point was a case of bad luck, with a rock in the first motokeeping him from moving up and contact in the second moto damaging hisbike. In the first moto, Reed began charging forward when a rock poppedhis goggle lens out of place. With mud flying into his eyes, it wasdifficult for the Australian rider to get close behind anyone on thetrack. In the second moto contact in the first turn damaged Reed'sfront brake caliper and a bolt eventually failed forcing him to retirefor the day.
"It seems that when it rains, it pours,” said Reed. "In the first moto a rock hit my goggles and popped the lens out ofplace. So whenever I got behind somebody I couldn't see. Then in thesecond moto, I made contact with someone in the first turn and thatdamaged my front brake. When it failed, I had to pull off. I reallylike Budds Creek, so I'll be ready to get back on the podium nextweekend.”
Mother Nature played a fickle game at High Point asrain and sunshine alternated throughout the afternoon. The rain startedmidway through the first 450 moto and stopped early in the first 250moto. With the sun shining brightly the track improved tremendously andstayed good throughout the second 450 moto. The rain started again withtwo laps to go in the second 250 moto, but it couldn't dampen Rattray'scelebration on the podium.
"The first moto was difficult withthe rain at the start,” said Rattray. "Once it stopped raining thetrack started to improve. Every lap was different, but by the end ofthe moto the track was really good.”
Weimer has had adifficult start to the outdoor season as his results don't reflect hisriding through the first three rounds. After going down in the firstturn of the second moto, Weimer passed 21 riders to finish 11th.
"Ithink I rode pretty well today,” said Weimer. "I went down in the firstturn of the second moto and had to work hard to get up to the front.I'm not getting the results I want right now, but we're going to BuddsCreek next week and that is one of my favorite tracks so hopefully Ican turn it around.”
With Rattray hailing from South Africa,his attention is divided between motocross and his home country's bigevent, the World Cup. Rattray knows how big the event is, and he ishoping his country can advance to the next round.
"It's fun towatch and root for my home country, especially since they are playingin South Africa,” said Rattray. "When we race at the Motocross ofNations it is similar, but nothing compares to the World Cup. I wish Iwas at home so I could go to some of the matches in Durbin.”
Weyfaced some difficult conditions when the rains came in the first moto.He was working his way forward when his goggles fogged up and he had totake them off. With sunshine dominating the second moto, the Michigannative was able to move up and score his first top-10 moto finish ofthe year.
"I had a hard time in the first moto,” said Wey. "Ilost my goggles and went off the track a couple of times. In the secondmoto I passed like six guys to get up to eighth. That was my best motofinish and it was also the best I've ridden, so I'm looking forward tothe next race.”