Australian riders have never been able to climb to the very top of the FIM World Motocross Championship, but three have come very close.

Back in 1989 it was Jeff Leisk who finished second in the World 500cc Championship to Motocross legend Dave Thorpe, then in 2001 Chad Reed finished second to Frenchman Mickael Pichon in the World 250cc Championship and a few years later Andrew McFarlane finished second to Antonio Cairoli in the 2005 FIM World MX2 Championship.

With grands grix held in Australia in the early 2000s and there talk from Youthstream about a possible return to Australia in the near future, it is little surprise that the Aussie Motocross riders are starting to get excited about being on the same start line as riders like Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings.

Current Monster Energy Yamaha rider Dean Ferris has shown good form this year, finishing with a podium in the opening round in Qatar and a top three place in the second moto in Italy a couple of weekends ago. He can’t wait until two or three more Aussies are on the world scene.

“I think for Australian riders the grand prix series is really interesting,” Ferris said. “I know a few guys who want to get over to race the FIM World Motocross Championships and there are guys who could do well here.

“Todd Waters is one of them, he is a hard worker and he will do some GPs this year. Luke Styke is another young Aussie who is still young enough for MX2 in 2014 and he is looking at coming and I think he would do really well. Both Todd and Luke have good work ethic, they work as hard as anyone I have seen and they are not scared to put in.”

Motorex KTM’s Waters has shown a lot of interest to race in the FIM World Motocross Championships and also mentioned recently why on MotoOnline.com.au.

“Europe to me is all about the racing,” Waters said. “In America there’s a lot of hype behind the scenes and the riders, a lot of press stuff, that type of thing.

“Racing the Motocross of Nations in Lommel in 2012 opened up my eyes, just seeing how hard those guys ride and the depth of the field is crazy. Going to Europe is like learning the trade and learning to be a better rider.”

There is also talk of Waters getting full factory support when he arrives in Europe, and his connection with the Red Bull KTM Factory team would be the perfect opportunity for the Aussie to perform at his best.

“It’s not easy over there with the different languages and stuff, so I think it just toughens you up. Chad Reed, Andrew McFarlane and Brett Metcalfe going to Europe, I think that was a big part of their success.

“They knew what they had to do, they’d already trained hard and they were ready. There were no distractions.”

So it is not just a matter of if more Australian riders will appear on the FIM World Motocross Championship start gate, but when.

Ferris has shown in the first five rounds of this year’s FIM World MX2 Championship what a talent he is, and there are more Australian riders waiting in the wings to show what they can do.