Dean Ferris will join Ryan Dungey, Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin on the 2014 Red Bull KTM Team. Photography by Kit Palmer
KTM Motorsports announced today its newest member of its 2014 Supercross and Motocross Team – Aussie Dean Ferris.
The 23-year-old has been a fixture in the World Championship GP MX Series the past couple of years in the MX2 class. He finished off the 2013 GP season with a race win and more recently turned a lot of heads competing for Team Australia at the Motocross of Nations in Germany. Roger DeCoster, the race team manager for the Red Bull KTM Team in the US, was so impressed that he offered Ferris a ride in the US Supercross and Motocross Championships. Even though Ferris was already set to compete in Europe for a third straight year, he chose to come to America.
Ferris will compete in the 250 West Supercross Championship and the 250 outdoor Motocross Championship.
Ferris says his specialty is motocross but is anxious to get his Supercross career going.
“I’m just a country kid from Australia,” Ferris said of his racing background. “I raced pro for four years in Australia, and then I moved to Europe to race the GPs. This year I finished sixth in the World Championship in MX2, then I did really good at the MX of Nations, and this is how it all came about. Roger noticed my speed [at the Motocross of Nations] and contacted me a while after. He said there was a spot available. To make a long story short, we made it all happen.”
Despite not really being considered an experienced Supercross racer, Ferris says he’s ready to give it a shot.
“I’m not as experienced at Supercross,” he told Cycle News. “My goal is to get through Supercross and do the best I can. My expectation for motocross is much higher. I think I’ll be a title contender and that’s my goal, to win that championship.”
Ferris says he was surprised by the sudden change of events for him.
“Yeah, I was surprised, I already had a deal lined up in Europe to race 450s in MX1,” he said. “I was focusing on that, getting ready – and this came about really late. It was a surprise but definitely a pleasant one.”
Even though Ferris could’ve ridden the East Supercross Series and had a few extra weeks to prepare, he says he’ll be ready for the West when it starts up at Anaheim, January 4.
“That’s what they want me to do – I’m not scared,” he said. “There are still five or six weeks to get ready. I can do a lot of laps between now and then. I’m not going to try and set the world on fire, so it’s good that I can just go in there and just keep moving forward.”