Australian Motocross number three Dean Ferris had a difficult weekend in his second appearance in the Motocross World Championship with the Martin Honda team, struck by bad luck throughout the weekend.

Ferris returned to Europe for his second GP of the season at the notoriously tough Lierop circuit in the Netherlands, however a rear brake failure forced him out of the qualifying heat on Saturday.

Sunday’s opening moto saw Ferris involved in a first turn pile-up, clawing back to 26th in the 40-rider field. Moto two saw Ferris forced out with radiator damage after he crashed and his factory CRF450R was landed on by another competitor.

“What a struggle. The weekend was always going to be tough anyway, but we just had so many things go wrong,” Ferris reflected. “In the second moto I felt good and was starting to get used to the crazy conditions. I was passing guys that are good in the sand and have the experience so that was good fun, but then after a silly fall my bike got smashed by someone landing on it.

“All in all it was a good experience, and I have taken some good learning points away from here. I can only describe the circuit as the gnarliest track I have ever seen. Next week we race in Italy and the conditions will hopefully be more what I am used to.

“I am certainly aiming for a better race there and want to get a decent result. My bike was very good this weekend, since I last raced the bike earlier in the year there has been some more developments on the engine and it is super fast. I would really like to thank everyone on the Martin Honda team and hope to give them some payback in Italy.”

Following the Italian Grand Prix Ferris will head to the United States to represent Australia in the Motocross of Nations on 25-26 September as the MX2 rider alongside Open class riders Brett Metcalfe and Jay Marmont.