Image: Jeremy Hammer.

CDR Yamaha’s Dean Ferris has confirmed he will contest this year’s Australian Supercross Championship after initially signing a motocross-only contract ahead of the 2017 season.

Ferris made the late decision to commit to this year’s schedule after achieving success during the 2016 series as he claimed one round victory and finished in second-place behind Justin Brayton in the SX1 championship.

“I signed my motocross contract for 2017 in the early stages of for last year’s supercross championship and I wanted to get through the series and see how I felt and if I enjoyed that style of racing again before I made any commitments for 2017,” Ferris said.

“Last year was the first time I had done supercross with a great team behind me and on an awesome bike and when I reflect on the championship, I realised how much fun I had and that I would like to do it again.

“Craig [Dack] and I had been discussing it for the past few weeks and I told him I was in and the contract was drawn up. It was a simple decision really, and I love going racing with everyone at CDR Yamaha.”

The defending Motul MX Nationals MX1 champion aims to be a well-rounded contender and believes his 2017 supercross performance will improve due to added experience heading into the series.

“Being able to ride both motocross and supercross well is important and having the skills for racing indoors or out will only benefit my riding,” he explained.

“Last year my preparations were limited to due racing the Motocross of Nations but I was able to find my feet pretty fast so that was good and now with the bit of experience and knowledge gained, hopefully this year the process will be a little easier.

“It is also a great opportunity to race oversees competitors who do our races. Last year it was cool to line up alongside Chad Reed, Ryan Villopoto, Justin Brayton and Cooper Webb, while this year Jason Anderson and Reed have already been conformed for the AUS-X Open round so that is something to look forward to.”

The 2017 Australian Supercross Championship is set to kick off on 23 September at Jimboomba in Queensland.