Image: Greg Smith (iKapture).

CDR Yamaha’s Dean Ferris will debut the highly-anticipated 2018 YZ450F alongside teammate Dylan Long this weekend at the opening round of the 2017 Australian Supercross Championship in Jimboomba, Queensland.

The recently crowned Australian MX1 champion says he’s placed a greater focus on preparing for supercross this season, despite setting off for Europe next Tuesday to represent the country at the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations.

Ferris, who was runner-up in last year’s supercross title hunt, completed the final stages of testing this week with CDR Yamaha aboard both the ’18 model he will use for supercross, along with the ’17 he’ll pilot at Matterley Basin in Great Britain.

“This year I’ve put a fair bit more into supercross, last week I dusted off the motocross bike and rode a few times just to stay sharp,” Ferris explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “I tested motocross with CDR on Wednesday and supercross yesterday to improve the setup we have in both disciplines.

“The preparation has been going well. So far, so good with the [2018 model], I’ve only ridden it in supercross, but I like what I’m feeling so far. Hopefully we can start strong and keep some form throughout the championship – hopefully we’ll be in the hunt for it.”

As the Australian Supercross Championship kicks off tomorrow, the MXoN will be hosted the following weekend, where Ferris will be joined by long-time rival Kirk Gibbs (KTM Motocross Racing Team) and world championship regular Hunter Lawrence (Suzuki World MX2) to form Team Australia.