Reigning Australian champion Dean Ferris is determined to capture Altherm JCR Yamaha’s maiden New Zealand MX1 championship in 2017, coming off a second-place finish at Timaru’s season-opener last Sunday as a springboard to shoot for the crown.

Finishing five points behind multi-time and current defending series champion, Cody Cooper, the MX Nationals number one confirmed slight tweaks to his race day approach will be necessary to climb on top of the box in NZ after finishing runner-up last year.

“It was second and it was only five points between Cody and I,” Ferris told MotoOnline.com.au. “We’ve still got a bunch of races, so it was a good start. We’re in there and everything, but I just need to get on top of my game plan pretty much. Overall the feeling was good, the bike’s good and everything in the team was running smoothly.”

It was a large downhill crash at the Rotorua event that ultimately cost the New South Welshman of the championship double in 2016 – the type of costly error he is focused on eliminating from his campaign this season.

“I came up like one-point short last year and it was just because of one mistake really,” he explained. “Last year I won a lot of motos and I was probably the most dominant guy, it was just that one mistake, so I’m really keen to improve on it and work towards that championship.

“That’s the goal this year, to win the championship, and Josh [Coppins] and I are both working together to try and achieve that. I’m 100 percent motivated and so is he, so it’s a good combination.”

Currently back on home soil in Kyogle, New South Wales, Ferris will return to continue his New Zealand Motocross Championship campaign on 19 February at Rotorua. It leads all the way into Wonthaggi’s Motul MX Nationals opener on 2 April.