Following a 1-1 result last time out, Brisbane Motorcycles Yamaha’s Dean Ferris was firing on all cylinders again at round seven of the 2023 Penrite ProMX Championship at Queensland Moto Park to deliver another moto sweep for the MX1 overall win, extending his points lead. In MX2, it was KTM Racing Team’s Nathan Crawford who claimed his third overall win of the season with 1-1 results also. MotoOnline caught up with both riders after the races for this Debrief feature.

MX1

Dean, congratulations on the win. Take us through the day from the start.

In practice I pumped up really bad, I don’t know what it was. I felt like the track didn’t form up how I anticipated it, so I was chasing my settings through practice and superpole quite a bit. I feel like I pretty much nailed it for moto one, got a start, and rode away to an 11-second lead. I adjusted my bike a little bit for moto two, just tiny little refinements and I think that was a good thing to do. I made a silly mistake on the first lap, I was in the lead, I went through a bog hole and I thought I could just get through it and got stuck in there under my bike. I’m not sure what position I went back to, but I got up, put on a charge and was chipping my way forward. I got to Kyle [Webster], and had to work on him for quite a while because he was clever, he heard where I was catching and changed lines, so then I had to get creative and work out where I was going to make it happen. I made a pass with three laps to go and Bob’s your uncle. We went 1-1, really solid day, happy with my bike. The six-week break went well, I spent a lot of time on the same settings and I feel like I’m gelling with my bike really well.

Take us through moto one a little bit. After the sight lap, you decided to go with the paddle tyre. What influenced that decision?

I actually did it before the sight lap, because there was not enough time after. I just followed my gut, I looked out and saw they were ripping it up and the start straight was still quite ripped. I practice on the paddle quite a lot, the Dunlop paddle is really good even on the hard-packed. It worked awesome in the first one. It was probably a little so-so in the second one because I chose to keep it on for moto two. But, I didn’t want to go change anything, because the tyre changes the balance of the bike quite a bit and I was pretty happy with how the bike was handling, so I just left it.

Let’s go back to last year. Leaving round seven and heading into the final round you had a chance at the championship. Obviously, you were getting ready to announce your retirement. The feelings today coming into the final round versus last year, is it a whole new Dean Ferris?

I think a lot of people just see me as a different person this year. I think because I actually retired, it was no joke, I was over it, it was the first time in my life I switched off. I went caravanning, I had nothing to do with bikes, and I turned off my phone for like five months. So, I was fully disconnected from motocross, and that was like the break I needed, but at the end of the five months, I started having some doubts, some moments and some emotions coming up. So then, I was clear on it that I wanted to come back. The difference is, I’m full of energy, last year I was winding down, counting down the days for it to be over, now I’m like so pumped to be racing right now. I’m kicking goals every day with training, not just thinking of the end. I’m thinking about how I can get better, so I’d say that’s the difference.

Do you think riding for a factory team, it’s obviously more strict and more structured compared to this program you’ve been able to put together with Brisbane Motorcycles and Yamaha. Is that a contributing factor?

It always is actually. There are teams out there that have all the products you could want, and there are teams out there where you’re signing for the money and you think you’ll make it work and there’s one product you don’t like, or one character under the team you don’t gel with. I definitely have that luxury of just keeping my circle really small. I get to choose. But, there are drawbacks as well, I don’t have the salary that Aaron [Tanti] or maybe Jed [Beaton] have, you know what I mean? They’re riding under a team and that’s just how it goes. So, I’m stoked with what I’m doing, I did come to the party late and I’m glad I was able to put all of this together, I’m stoked with how it’s going, my bike, the people around me. I have the Yamalube Yamaha team help me out on the side and then I’ve got my own sponsors and Ben Lane spannering for me. So, it’s a catch-22, there are drawbacks and benefits to both.

So, does that make it stressful for you if or when a seat does open up at a team like Craig Dack Racing with a factory outfit, and they come to you with that option? Do you have to weigh up the options between money and freedom?

Honestly, I haven’t thought much about it because I just want to race Coolum, and then I’ll work out how I’m going to do it next year. I don’t know, whatever I do next year will be the answer to your question, but it’s all going well right now and I’m just so grateful for the partners that I have because as I said, I came in really late. Some people found some budget for me and some people heard I was racing again and called me saying they wanted to help me out. So, without them, I’d probably have to work more during the week or something to be able to come here.

How does this week look for you heading into the final round now with the points lead?

Looks the same, I’ll do my work, do my motos and hold it wide open when I’m practising. Then go to Coolum and try to ride that place the best I can.

MX2

Nathan, another good day here for you leaving with the round win. You said yesterday that all you can do is win races at this point and you did exactly that. Take us through the day.

Yeah, today was actually really solid. I’ve had days like this before, but they’re hard to do. The starts are what was key for me today, first moto I was second off the start and moto two was a holeshot and we went 1-1, which is exactly what I wanted to do. So, it was just really solid, but honestly, it was the starts that made the difference. You see top guys in some of the other classes if they don’t get a start, it’s hard to come through on this track. KTM and the Dunlops were hooking up unreal, it was a good one.

One race to go, Coolum this weekend. It’s in your backyard, so that has to give you some good vibes. How do you feel is the best way to go about it this weekend?

I think we just go about it the same way we did this today. You could get into the cat and mouse, but sometimes that ends up in me tarnishing myself. So, we’re just going to see the cards we’re dealt on the weekend, obviously, I’m going out there to win again and put the KTM back up on the top, at least for the round. Regardless of the championship result at the end, we’ve got a lot to take away from this year with how far we’ve come back. There’s been 50 points lost and we’re only 27 down now, so I think we take a lot of pride in how far we’ve come back.