Image: iKapture.

Two-time Australian motocross champion Dean Ferris has declared he won’t be available for Team Australia selection at this year’s Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations (MXoN) at RedBud in the USA, scheduled for 7 October.

The CDR Yamaha has instead elected to place 100 percent of his attention towards the Australian Supercross Championship, which has has seen the MXoN fall between rounds in recent years.

Ferris, who finished second and third respectively in the 2016 and 2017 Australian Supercross Championships, has represented Australia at the MXoN on four occasions, with his best result coming in 2013 when he finished runner-up in the MX2 category while assisting Australia to fourth in the nations standings.

“It falls in the middle of supercross, and I’ve got a commitment that I’ve made to CDR,” Ferris explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “I feel there’s no point going to the Des Nations if I’m not prepared and also committed to supercross at the same time.

“If I was going, I’d just be winging it, and I don’t feel that’s the right thing to do. You have to put in 100 percent for that one race, and I just don’t have the time to do it. I’d really like to knuckle down and see how good I can get at supercross, of course, I put everything into the last two championships, but I was a little distracted.

“You take a few weeks out of your program by the time you go over there and come back – I feel I’m better off getting 100 percent for supercross. In future years, I’d love to go back and do the Motocross of Nations, but the way the circumstances are this year, I’ve chosen to focus on supercross.”

Ferris will contend for a third Australian motocross title when the 2018 Pirelli MX Nationals commences on 15 April at Newry in Victoria.