Dean Ferris: Taming The Beast

CDR Yamaha’s Dean Ferris speaks candidly about the season-long battles that culminated into his first premier-class MX Nationals title…

It’s the Nowra round of the 2016 Motul MX Nats. Perfect weather. Prime track. After the 10-round series’ mid-season break, there’s been much focus on the resumption of play at Nowra, and who’ll use it to set the tone for the back half of the season. And what a round it turns out to be, most notably for what goes down between the frontrunners of the premier MX1 class…

* * *

Reigning MX Nats champ, Kirk Gibbs, has had a tough day after wrenching his knee badly in qualifying. The KTM rider has dug deep and gone 5-3 in the day’s two motos, and retained his slim lead in the standings. But Gibbs looks pained as he’s interviewed alongside Nowra’s other two podium placegetters, Dean Ferris and Matt Moss. Despite putting on one of his best rides all year, Moss is also despondent. The former two-time champ is scowling and his eyes remain transfixed on Yamaha’s Ferris, who’s upstaged him in front of his home crowd by dominating SuperPole and hounding Moss the entire first moto. And now, he’s beating himself up for dropping his Kawasaki while narrowly leading Ferris in the second moto, and gifting the Yami rider the Overall.

Dean Ferris has only made up a few points on Gibbs and Todd Waters in the title chase, but he knows he’s rattled his rivals, and his smug demeanour rams the point the point home. They all see it, and they don’t like it. Fuelled by adrenaline and frustration, Moss unleashes. “Ferris is a dirty prick,” he says to his mechanic out one side of his mouth. “He never makes a clean pass and he’ll put anyone over a berm without thinking twice.”

I’m not the only one to overhear Moss’ snide remarks. Ferris is also within earshot, though he pretends not to hear. But when Moss wheels his bike away, Ferris turns around with a knowing grin and shrug of the shoulders. He knows he’s got into Moss’s head – just as his CDR Yamaha teammate Daniel Reardon did late last year during the Australian Supercross Championship – and he’s got a new air of confidence about him.

It’s a priceless post-race pantomime, and a turning point that gives Ferris all the momentum he needs for the final four rounds of the national title chase.

* * *

A few months later, Ferris goes into the deciding round of the championship with a meagre six-point deficit to Gibbs. And after one of he most gripping and closely contested series deciders the MX Nats has ever seen, he emerges with his first Australian Motocross title win a decade after his Pro MX career began. Here’s the transcript of my conversation with the 26-year-old Dean Ferris a few days after the memorable victory…

TM: Has the title win sunk in yet?
DF: I’m still soaking it up and coming to terms with the fact that I’ve finally got an Australian title to my name. I’m really proud of what I’ve done, but I can’t stop moving now, y’know. I still have to go to the gym and do my washing and tie my own shoelaces. Life doesn’t change completely.

It’s hard to believe that this is your first ever national title. You’d have to be Australia’s most successful rider on the international stage not to win an Aussie title, right?
I would have to be. Before this year, I only had two shots in the MX1 class – in 2010 as a privateer on the Honda and in 2011 with Team Kawasaki. And I got really close to winning the title both years. In 2010, I ended up third behind Jay Marmont and Billy Mackenzie. In 2011, I had the red plate pretty much all year, until a big crash at Moree with a couple of rounds to go. I was over it after that, so I took myself off overseas to race and thought I’d worry about this Aussie championship at a later date. During those four years in Europe, I raced with Ice One Kawasaki, Dixon Yamaha, Red Bull KTM, Ice One Husqvarna and then Jacky Marten’s Husqvarna team last year.

Your 2016 season seemed to be one of two halves – pre and post the big crash in WA at Round 5. What changed after that?
I think I rode the first half of the season pretty smart, but I made that one big mistake in WA that cost me 35 points. After that, the biggest thing is that I learned to keep what I call “the little chimp” in my head under control. My natural game is to do whatever it takes to win, and that can get me in trouble. And the WA crash was a slap in the face to remind me of that. It forced me to think my way through race day instead of just letting that little chimp take over and react to situations. I didn’t change up my training or anything major; I just became really, really aware that I needed to be more patient and use my head more if I was going to win this championship. I got in touch with my sports psychologist, and that helped me focus on the points I needed to work on. I made sure the whole team was on the same page. I was honest with them about how wanting to win so badly has cost me in the past, and could derail my championship again. Together, we turned it into a positive. As Craig Dack [CDR Yamaha Team Principal] said, ‘It’s easier to tame the beast to put a firecracker into a sloth’ [laughs].

And that tamed beast went first or second for the final five rounds of the season!
Exactly. In previous years, I’ve copped a lot of flack for not being consistent, but I was the most consistent guy in the back half of the season, and that’s what won me the title. I heard Kirk Gibbs say that he’d been on the podium for nine of the 10 rounds and that it’s unusual for that not to win you the championship. And he’s right. I was on the podium for eight of the 10 rounds this year, but I had the most SuperPoles, the most moto wins and the most Overall wins.

You had the red plate at Rounds 2 and 3, before losing it to Gibbs. Was being the hunter, rather than the hunted, an advantage in the back half of the season?
It’s an advantage because, when you’re coming from behind, you have to go for it; you have nothing to lose and you’re less inclined to ride conservatively to protect a lead. When you’re narrowing the points gap to the guys ahead of you – especially when that starts to happen week after week – it can start to get them rattled if they’re not headstrong. In the back end of the season, Gibbsy only beat me once – at Shepparton, where I handed him the win. I was the most dominant guy. I didn’t win every moto, but if I didn’t win, I was still battling for the win. No matter who was at the front, they always had to deal with me.

Take us through your weekend at Coolum and the title win. It started out by winning the Qualifying and only got better from there, right?
I was mindful that everyone around me was a bit tense, but for reasons I can’t really explain, I was more relaxed than I’d been at any other round. I knew I’d be strong on the Coolum track. I knew I only had 6 points to make up on Gibbs. I felt like I had nothing to lose and everything to gain by just going for it. I won qualifying by a fair margin. I was fastest in the Sunday warm-up. And I won Superpole. These were all goals I’d set with the team. Gibbsy messed up his Superpole lap and didn’t get any points, so that closed the gap to just 3 points before the gate had even dropped for the first moto. In Moto 1, I got slammed on the start straight, but kept my cool and found myself in the lead after about five corners. Even though I didn’t gain any time by it, I copped a 10-second penalty for going inside a track marker, but I didn’t find this out till after the race. I felt really comfortable and had a good flow in the moto, so I think the team decided not to tell me about the penalty via the pit board because it might have been confusing. I didn’t feel like I was pushing, but I still extended my lead to 18 seconds and won easily. As Gibbsy ran fourth, I made up 7 points on him, meaning I was 4 points ahead as we started Moto 2. So I was steering the ship from that point. In the second moto, it was me, Gibbsy and Todd Waters dicing at the front. Of course! At one point, Todd blew past both of us on the same lap and checked out. I was being mindful not to do anything stupid, and I knew that if I stayed in third, it was enough. But just in case something happened and Gibbsy ended up back in front of Todd, I put in a charge and got past Gibbs for second. After that, he fell off the pace. I spent the last five laps making sure I kept it upright. It was nice to be able to enjoy those last few laps of the championship without having tonnes of pressure. And then I went across the finish line and the title was mine; I was number one.

What goes through your mind at a moment like that; when years of dedication and dreams come to fruition?
Initially, I was just so proud of myself for the achievement and thinking about the 10 years I’d spend slogging it out – all the laps, all the training miles on the cycle, all the injuries, all the time I’d spent racing overseas, all the stuff that had culminated in getting me to this one point in time. After that, I started thinking about my family and my friends and my team and Jon Hafey, who’s helped me so much over the years, and I was really pumped for all those people too. Winning a championship involves such a big effort for all those people. Looking back over that decade, it’s been rough at times. But for the most part, I’ve really enjoyed the journey. To me, all that stuff that went into winning the title is a really important part of it. My parents are peers were a huge part of my success. My Dad is not around any more, but I know he would have been looking over me and very proud. I’m just so happy to have finally done it.

The points awarded for Superpole were reduced this season, but it still played a pivotal role in your title win.
Absolutely, it did. I won five out of the nine Superpoles held this year, plus I got a second and a third. So there’s 18 points all up, and I won the title by 6 points. I was always good at qualifying – and I won half of them in 2011 on the Kawasaki – but I do think that all the time I spent in Europe definitely helped me refine my qualifying act.

When you signed on with CDR Yamaha, you promised Craig Dack a championship, and he promised you the best equipment. You both delivered on those promises, right?
It’s been a really positive experience with CDR right from the first test session with the team. I came back from Europe to sign on with the best team in Australia, and they’ve proven to me that they are. The team’s structure is awesome, every gets along really well, they’re super-experienced with bike set-up, and the bike itself is just unreal. For me, the thing that really stands out with CDR is how well Craig Dack manages the team. The way he operates is really effective in getting everyone to work together. Craig knows how to get the best out of everyone, including me.

At the MX Nats, it’s been a few years between title-winning drinks for Australia’s most successful team too, huh?
CDR won the supercross title last year with Dan Reardon, but the team last won a motocross title in 2012 with Josh Coppins. I rode for Josh in New Zealand late last year, and he also played a role in developing my bike. Again, this was something that Dacka made happen. Maybe it’s no coincidence that Josh played a role in both 2012 and 2016 titles for CDR.”

From early in the season, there was a lot of talk that your aggressive riding style bordered on being dirty. What’s your take on that? Were you too aggressive?
It’s true that I got together pretty hard with both Matt Moss and Gibbsy earlier in the season, and I came out on top on both incidents. I was aggressive, for sure, but I don’t think I’m dirty. I understand that Mossy was upset after losing to me at Nowra, but hearing that he was calling me a dirty rider isn’t cool. If anyone’s a dirty rider, it’s him. In the second half of the season, the racing was all pretty clean. And for the first time in our lives, Todd Waters and I didn’t exchange metal on the track [laughs], which is amazing.

Did you get in some rivals’ heads this year?
I was focused on what I was doing this year, but I suppose my consistent results would have got them thinking. It wasn’t hard to rattle Mossy. We didn’t even have a coming together at Nowra, and yet he was still saying I was riding dirty. I’ve got a lot of respect for all the top guys I race against. And guys like Todd Waters and Kirk Gibbs are really headstrong.

Coming into the season, the form guide suggested it would be a battle between you and Todd Waters, after both returning from the MXGP scene in Europe. Did Kirk Gibbs speed and consistency surprise you?
I was a little surprised, but I never underestimated Kirk. He was strong and consistent, but he didn’t win as much as me and Todd did.

As the reigning champ, Gibbsy could be forgiven for being more upset. But he was gracious in defeat and showed great sportsmanship.
He’s a class act, which is why I have a lot of respect for Gibbsy. He put in a huge effort this year and rode awesomely. After having the red plate for three-quarters of the season, it must have been tough to see me walk away with it at Coolum. It’ll be nice to team up with him on the Australian team at the Motocross of Nations in Italy in a few weeks’ time.

Speaking of which, what are your expectations for Maggiora with teammates Gibbs and Jed Beaton?
It’s always a really proud feeling to be picked for the Australian team and pull on the Aussie jersey on foreign soil. I’m always inspired to really put in at that event, and as a teams event, it makes it even more special. I think our chances are good for a strong finish this year. I know Gibbsy will excel on Maggiora’s hardpack, and Jed has shown that he’s rock solid on all surfaces. As I’ve spent some time in Europe, I hope I can contribute to the team with good results and some helpful advice.

Good luck in Italy, champ. I might just see you there…
All good. Thanks, Andy. Yep, see you at Maggiora.