Triple Australian motocross champion Dean Ferris is upbeat after making significant improvements with his set-up at Thunder Valley’s third round of the 2019 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship.

The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing rider put on a stellar display in the opening encounter, staying in touch with the lead group to finish sixth, while in race two he mustered up a ninth place result for a season-best eighth overall.

The New South Welshman has been acclimatising himself to racing in the US along with piloting the factory-spec YZ450F, and he believes discovering new-found comfort led to his improved results on Saturday.

“Big improvements for me today,” Ferris commented. “I got two reasonably good starts and kind of got pulled along with the big group. We made improvements with the bike. I’m somewhat comfortable now and feel like we’re getting the train on the tracks now for the rest of the season.

“The conditions were demanding, the track was really rutted and rough as usual, but I liked it. I’m definitely really happy about the improvements we made and the result this weekend. It’s something to build on.”

Team manager Jim Perry added: T”oday the team made progress with two top 10 finishes. We will continue to work hard on the weekend off to close the gap towards the front.

“Dean continues to work with the team on getting comfortable and it showed in Denver with his best result of the season. Both guys will return to California this week for testing and look forward to Mount Morris to go after top results.”

Ferris is ranked eighth in the championship standings as Pro Motocross takes a week off, returning to action at High Point on 16 June.