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DEAN FERRIS
450 MX / 7TH
IMAGE / KILPATRICK WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MPG
>> Australian racer Dean Ferris quietly made his United States motocross debut this weekend at High Point. He is the current Australian series points leader and with a break in the schedule, he decided to stay sharp by coming stateside to compete with the best riders in the world. His only prior experience racing in the States was on a KTM 250 in Supercross back in 2014. He’d never raced an outdoor national here so he came in with no pressure ready to do battle.
Ferris immediately rose eyebrows with his qualifying practice performance. He threw down the second fastest time of the day on the nasty, muddy early morning course. It was quite the surprise to everyone watching at home and in person and I think we were all eager to see what he could do when that gate dropped.
In moto one, Ferris picked up where he left off in practice nailing a great start and grab- bing the green flag in third. He made quick work on Christian Craig for second and then set his sights on race leader Josh Grant. He slowly made up ground each lap before pull- ing up alongside the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider. The two remained side by side for a few sections before Ferris made the pass and took the lead. The American audience was shocked by this Aussie’s performance. He looked poised to start building up a lead until there was an ‘El Chupacabra’ sighting. Blake Baggett put the hammer down and spoiled the potential upset by getting around Ferris at the halfway point. Ferris tried hanging with him but Baggett was on another level the rest of the moto easily walking away with the win. Many questioned Ferris’ endurance because it is winter time back home but he did not fade and held on for a strong second place finish in his first ever US moto. It was a great moment and he wanted to do so again in moto two.
After nearly getting the holeshot in moto one, Dean Ferris got a disastrous start in the second moto. The Aussie rounded lap one buried in twenty-fifth place. He started moving forward but not at the kind of pace he had going in moto one. It looked after the bad start, he was content with playing it safe and not risking injury so he could finish out his series back home. He would end up finishing in fourteenth position. The 3-14 moto scores would earn him seventh overall which is quite impressive for his debut. I would not be surprised if we see him back stateside later this year or in the coming years after that great perfor- mance.
26 GRITMOTO • JUNE 18, 2017