Tyla Rattray is celebrating his first 450 Class moto win at Southwick. Image: Simon Cudby.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Tyla Rattray expects to contend for the podium on any given weekend following his breakthrough 450 Class moto win at Southwick’s round of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross last weekend.

The South African finished fifth overall after a troublesome opening moto, however he bounced back to win moto two in a confidence-boosting performance.

After spending a good amount of time testing during the three-week break, Rattray came to Southwick prepared to contend for the podium.

In the first moto, Rattray got tangled up in a first turn pile up and found himself in last place. He was able to work his way past half of the field and up to 20th place before crossing the finish.

In the second moto he got a good jump off the gate aboard his KX450F and rounded the first turn in ninth. Rattray went to work on the familiar course and started reeling in the leaders. By the third lap he had moved into third place and by lap 12 he had taken over second place.

A mistake by the leader gave Rattray the lead and he never looked back. He went on to take the first 450 Class moto win of his career in the outdoors and earned fifth overall on the day.

“Jake [Weimer] and I were able to get some good testing in over the break and came to Southwick feeling much more comfortable on the bike,” said Rattray. “Now I think we’re in a good place with the bike and I’m really happy with the team and all their hard work. They’ve been putting in so many hours getting me and the bike prepped for this race, I really can’t thank them enough.

“I’ve won at Southwick the last two years on a KX250F so I felt confident I could pull it off on the KX450F as well. The first moto was a disaster. I had a bad start, got caught in a pile up and went down several times. The second moto I really felt like my old self again out there.

“I really expect to be out front fighting for the podium every moto and now I feel like we have the ball rolling again. To be able to earn a win for the team at Southwick felt awesome. It’s great to be back on the box.”

Rattray was selected to fill in for the injured Ryan Villopoto during the outdoors, however his season has also been affected by injury in 2012.