Team Australia logged their best Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations finish ever this weekend in Ernée. In a race where only one score gets thrown out, it is important for a team to have three strong riders and that’s just what the team had in Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence, and Dean Ferris. Ferris’s 12th in moto two was what the team needed to secure second overall. Hear what the Aussie had to say about his time in France.
Racer X: All right, Dean Ferris. Well, Australia ends up second overall at the end of the day, but just take me through your day.
Dean Ferris: Yeah, it was tough for first moto, I didn't ride good at all. But evidently that's the score that we needed, that we scored because in the second one, I was riding a lot better and I think I was battling for like tenth, which is a pretty good score for me, you know, it was a heavy, heavy race with all the guys, but I ended up crashing and going back to 13th or 14th. So, yeah, just stoked that the Lawrence boys did good and my score was enough to get second overall and I think even if I pulled off a seventh or eighth, it would have been good personally, but I don't think it would have changed the result because France was just so strong and consistent this weekend. So, yeah, it’s gonna be special when I think back on it for sure.
Were you feeling any ill effects from the crash yesterday or were you okay, coming in.
No, luckily, I was just like brand new, I did the best dismount and tuck and roll, and I was good. I jumped up, get back on my bike to keep racing, but the handlebars were completely bent. So I pulled out.
You've been on team Australia a few times over the years. How rewarding is it this time to finally break through? Get on the podium this time?
Yeah, it's awesome. This is my seventh time doing Motocross the Nations and there's also been sometimes where I was the top rider and scoring a lot of good points and good score. And then we got fourth maybe twice when I was on the team. We didn't get the podium. Then now this time, I was the third best rider, and it was still good enough with the Lawrence boys. So, yeah, it's really cool that we've got a podium.
Does it change the feeling at all going into the race when you guys are maybe a favorite to win. Does it add a little more pressure to you in that sense?
I don't think so. I don't think. Not for me. It was, “I'm just gonna do the best I can.” I can't really control where we're all gonna do and how the other boys are gonna go. We just really need to make a good decision about who's gonna take the inside gate and then it's a free for all. And, when we finish, we got on the podium.
And then lastly, Kenny Roczen just talked about how rough and hard the track got. What did you think about it today? It looked a little tough to pass on.
I don't know about the passing, but it was definitely a welcome back to Europe for me because I haven't been back in so long and then I remember how gnarly some of the tracks get here. So, it is what it is. It's hard, it was hard pack and choppy and slick today, but really rough and you go to the next country, and you get a completely different surface and this is what the World Championship is kind of all about.
