Following an impressive Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross debut just last weekend where Dean Ferris claimed a second-place finish in moto one and finished the day seventh overall in the premier class, MotoOnline.com.au decided to take a look back at the current Australian MX1 champion’s previous stint in the US. It was during the 2014 season that Ferris became part of the Red Bull KTM team aboard the KTM 250 SX-F and it was an exciting time for both himself and the Australian motocross community as a whole.

The Australian, in his second world motocross championship season and his first with the Monster Energy Yamaha squad in the MX2 class, captured an impressive clean-sweep victory at the Belgium grand prix in 2013 before going on to put in an impressive Motocross of Nations showing for Australia. Ferris had been on a tear leading into Motocross of Nations and he managed to catch the eye of motocross legend Roger DeCoster who happened to manage and still manages the US KTM racing outfit.

Although Ferris was strong during last year’s 2016 Australian Supercross Championship with CDR Yamaha in the SX1 category, back in 2013 he certainly was known as a ‘motocross guy’ and it was clear that he was being employed by Red Bull KTM to excel in that discipline of the sport. But first, before he could get to the motocross portion of the year where he felt most comfortable, it was time to contest the 2014 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship in the West Coast 250SX category.

Ferris definitely wasn’t setting the world on fire during the supercross season, but he did remain a regular top 10 fixture and logged a season-best finish of seventh-place at Phoenix and Arizona. It wasn’t all smooth sailing though for Ferris, he did deal with nagging injuries that season and even was even sliced by his own brake disc in a practice crash at the Red Bull KTM test track! This didn’t matter too much though as it was understood that the US newcomer from Kyogle in New South Wales was getting his feet wet during supercross and gearing up for a strong outdoor campaign.

This is where the story takes an interesting turn, with an eight-week break in the West Coast 250SX series, Ferris returned to Australia to train in familiar surroundings and unfortunately broke his wrist. It was huge news and it meant that Ferris would miss the remainder of the supercross series and it also put him in doubt for the beginning of the Pro Motocross series. At the time nobody was aware that we actually wouldn’t see Ferris compete in the US again until last weekend in 2017, over three years later.

Following Ferris’ wrist injury and recovery process, a fill-in ride in the MXGP series for the injured Tyla Rattray had been offered at the ICE1RACING squad here he initially kicked off his world motocross career in 2012. It’s understood that DeCoster gave Ferris the option to either stick with the Red Bull KTM squad or make the move back to Europe, so the then 24-year-old packed his bags and made his way back to Europe to ride for the Husqvarna-backed outfit before making the move to the Wilvo Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing squad for 2015.

It has been an interesting journey for Ferris as he made his way around the world racing at the highest level and following his impressive return to the American racing scene, it looks like he’s far from finish at this point in time. Ferris has made it clear that he’s available for an international seat in 2018 and he definitely would have turned some heads over the weekend at High Point. Who knows what could happen in 2018, but if it’s a return to the US, you can bet your bottom dollar that the current Motul MX Nationals MX1 points leader will make this one count.