The South African had shown good speed around the hillside track to post fifth fastest time in practice and he immediately jumped into second place in the qualification race before a crash eliminated him and left him with a poor starting position for race day. He lost almost a complete lap at the start of the first race when another rider cannoned into him but persevered to claim a point and his resolve was rewarded in race two as he raced to tenth position to maintain his challenge for a top ten world ranking; he is currently eleventh in the standings despite missing one round of the series.
 
Xavier Boog was fast throughout practice to post twelfth fastest time in his home GP and quickly advanced from eighteenth to eleventh with his sights on a top ten finish when an unfortunate crash eliminated him from the GP due to a shoulder injury.
 
Tyla Rattray: “It was a tough weekend. I had a fifth position in the timed practice period on Saturday but then made a pretty big crash in the qualification race when I was in second position. In Europe your race starts on Saturday because if you don’t get a good qualification then it’s impossible to get a good start on Sunday. In the first GP moto I was hit in the inside by another rider and crashed, my finger was painful but I continued to race and saw some good lines behind Febvre and Cairoli. My second start was tough from the outside, but I got a top ten result on a track that is for me the worst I rode during my entire career. It was very unsafe for the riders, and there were many crashes and injuries.”
 
Xavier Boog: “I got a very bad start in the qualifying race, but found a good rhythm and some good lines to pass. I was eleventh, close to tenth, when I crashed after a corner, and fell on my shoulder. We don’t know yet if something is damaged; I will have some examinations this week, but the shoulder was too painful to race the GP.”