Image: Foremost Media.

Three-time Australian MX1 champion Dean Ferris has announced his retirement from the sport, effective immediately, following a remarkable international career.

Ferris, 30, dominated the MX Nationals premier class between 2016-2018 with CDR Yamaha prior to trying his hand at Pro Motocross in the US during 2019.

That venture was cut short when he departed Monster Energy Yamaha and returned home to align with Raceline aboard KTM machinery, signing to continue with Recover8 KTM in 2020 before COVID-19 delayed the series and he was later seriously injured at Conondale in August.

Ferris has since recovered from spinal surgery and, while he has been aware of his decision for an extended period, today’s date marks 20 years since he competed in his first-ever motocross event and is a fitting time to reveal his future. He said his injury wasn’t the sole reason for his decision to hang up the helmet.

“I’ve been kind of MIA since I injured my back in August, hadn’t seen many people around and it took a bit to get over it,” Ferris explained. “I knew I was definitely out for a year, I wanted to get my feet wet and go see what else I could do – I got busy starting a business.

“I’m stepping away from professional racing, my professional racing days are done and I’m actually… not sad about it, I’m really satisfied with everything I’ve done, but it is time for me to step away from racing. I’ll still be involved in the industry, but for now, it’s definitely the right thing to do.

“I’ve known for quite a while that it’s over, pretty much straight away when I got hurt, and I guess I just needed time to see how involved I wanted to be in motocross. That’s why it’s taken me so long to give you guys and update on what I’m doing.”

Earlier in his career, Ferris had established himself as one of the country’s most capable young prospects and embarked on a grand prix career in 2012, going on to win three MX2 World Championship motos, in addition to the overall in Belgium during 2013 with Yamaha.

After claiming sixth in the world championship, Ferris also starred as part of Team Australia at the MXoN that same year, finishing second in MX2 and fourth overall. The next two seasons – including a short stint with Red Bull KTM in the US – were affected by injury, leading to a homecoming with CDR in 2016.

Alongside his extraordinary success with Yamaha locally, Ferris managed to put himself on the radar in North America by entering a one-off round of Pro Motocross at High Point during 2017, scoring a moto podium with P2 in the first outing, then taking 14th in moto two due to a first turn fall and earning seventh overall.

 

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