Tyla Rattray ninth in Italy and looking forward to Assen – team-mate Steven Frossard undergoes back operation after crash.
The South African had already shown top 10 speed throughout training but an unfortunate start in the qualification race left him 17th on lap one before he surged forward to earn 11th choice of gate.
Initially 14th in the opening GP moto he advanced to 10th at the chequered flag and followed this with a strong ride to ninth, just 32 seconds behind the winner, in a closely fought second race.
The combined results gave him ninth overall in the GP and he has now advanced to 13th in the series standings despite missing several of the earlier rounds because of injury.
Team-mate Steven Frossard had returned to action decisively to record the fastest time in free practice and he had a strong ride in qualification to finish ninth from an initial 15th placed start.
Another top 10 result in morning warm-up augured well for a good result in the GP but an unfortunate crash on the second lap of racing eliminated him for the day – he was immediately transported to Brescia hospital by air ambulance for an operation on his back.
“We made another good step with the bike this weekend; the guys in the team are working really hard,” Tyla Rattray said. “I had a bad start in the first race but managed to come back to 10th, then the second race was definitively better; I had a better start and from third to 10th it was a big train, as we were all so close! I managed to hang in there with the guys; I had a good rhythm and was happy to finish ninth in that race and the GP.
“I’m also happy to be safe tonight; there’s still one GP in Europe next weekend and it will be a special one for me as my first ever race in Europe was in the Netherlands. I will have a good week of training to prepare for Assen, then we’ll have two flyaway races to end my racing career.”
