Transmoto has a chat with Dean Ferris

Australian motocross title contender Dean Ferris recently travelled to Europe during the four-week break in the Rockstar MX Nationals to compete in the German round of the World Motocross Championship. We caught up with the 20-year-old Brisbane Motorcycles Honda rider when he came home to get his take on the European race scene.

So Dean, were you in Europe by yourself?
Yeah, I flew over by myself and met up with some boys I know from Synergy Sport.

Who organised the trip over for you?
I got in contact with a management company and I told them I wanted to ride over in Europe. We had the four-week break with the motocross so I decided to go anyway and I managed to get a factory Honda to ride.

So was it just the one GP you did?
Yeah, I did the one GP in Germany, and one round of the Belgium championship.

How did you go in Belgium?
My best moto score was ninth, and I think I got 11th Overall. Nearly all of the GP riders where in the Belgium Championship, so it was really good practice. A few of the Lites riders where racing in the 450 class too, like Jeremy van Horebeek.

Where abouts where you living while you where over there?
I was living in Belgium in a smaller town. Glen Dempsey let me stay at his place from the management company. He was nice enough to let me stay there and travel around with him, or borrow his van to go riding.

So how did you find the culture, like the food and language?
The food was all right, I like to cook so I just went out and bought food. But it’s a bit difficult to go down to the corner shop and get bread because some Belgians don’t speak much English. But in the end I got the hang of it and knew where to go to get everything.

Were you riding every day?
I didn’t ride so much during the week; I had about four practices for the three weeks I was there. And then the races on the weekend at the GP, you’ve got two full days of solid riding.

What was the reason for going over?
I went over to get a taste for the races in Europe and check out the racing scene. It was a good way to get noticed too and hopefully next time it won’t be so new to me so I can hit the ground running.

You’re running a close third behind Tye Simmonds in the Pro Open class points standings. How are you feeling for the MX Nationals Rd 6 at Wodonga this weekend?
I’ll stick with the same program as always and rest up big over the next couple of days to save all my energy for Sunday. So hopefully I’ll be in good form and can come out swinging.