Image: Jeremy Hammer (Foremost Media).

Dual Australian motocross champion Dean Ferris believes a distraction-free month of training has enabled him to make advancements both on the track and with the all-new YZ450F as the Australian Supercross Championship reaches the halfway point this weekend.

Ferris said that swapping between the 2017 and 2018 models ahead of the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations (MXoN) and racing the event himself left him distracted, although he’s now had nearly a month of sole supercross training under his belt.

It was announced yesterday that the New South Welshman will remain with CDR Yamaha for 2018, which comes as another relief for the number 111, who has spent considerable time in Melbourne recently testing with the team.

“I got a bit distracted with the Motocross of Nations, it takes two, two and a half weeks out of your program,” Ferris told MotoOnline.com.au. “It was a bit wish-washy swapping between the bikes. I flew back to Melbourne for the better weather actually, I was there with the team and got some rock-solid training in.

“I feels like I’m making some improvements and really getting a handle on the new bike, it’s been really good to just knuckle down and not have anything else to think about other than riding supercross.”

Ferris currently sits second in the series standings with a pair of runner-up finishes to his name, with Virginia in South Australia slated to host round three on the six-stop calendar this Saturday night.