MXGP Insider No.24 presented by Kawasaki – Dean Ferris

Geoff Meyer

Welcome to our web-exclusive weekly column: Transmoto’s MXGP Insider, presented by Kawasaki.

Australian Motocross rider Dean Ferris is really showing great speed as he makes his move on the top ten in the FIM World MX1 Championship. Ferris who feels he has the speed and style to race within the top five in the World is slowly coming into that type of form after injuring his elbow in the pre-season.

Meyer: Dean, what happened with your injury in the pre-season?
Ferris: I broke my elbow in Spain about two months ago. I was down there because of the bad weather in Belgium and that area and decided to do some racing. I did the opening round of the Spanish Championship and was catching the lead and he changed his line at the last seconds and I had to try and avoid him and ran off the track and hit a hay bale.

Did that injury prevent you from preparing properly for the 2012 season?
I mean I was on the bike after five weeks, so that went well. I’ve broken my elbow before, but this is a different spot. I mean the scar looks pretty bad, it’s been cut through there before. I was riding well, but I feel like I am still riding well.

Have you missed much testing time for the bike?
Yes, that has been a bit of a problem. We had to change some things in Bulgaria because we didn’t have the right set-up. I did a lot of training when I wasn’t riding, but we need to make time on the bike to get it sorted. I feel good in my condition.

How did you feel about the injury?
I wasn’t too gutted about the injury. I mean it wasn’t like I was going to be World Champion this year and I am back and riding okay.

Did starting late take a bit of pressure off. You aren’t expected to do that well as you are not on the same preparation level as the others?
I guess when you put it like that… It’s a high pressure sport and I didn’t know where I belonged in Bulgaria. I just wanted to do the best I could do. I missed Valkenswaard because of the injury, but I felt okay in Bulgaria and just needed to get the bike sorted and learn where I am in the MX1 class.

You did well in Italy last weekend.
I was really happy with my result in Italy. We have been trying to catch up on bike set-up since my injury and this weekend we made improvements once again. I was happy with my riding in the first moto even though the results don’t show it because I had to come from far back after a bad start. I had a great jump in the second moto and pushed hard from start to finish and felt comfortable with running that pace. I’m looking forward to Mexico and Brazil and to mixing it up with the top guys.”