Dylan Ferrandis on racing in America!
Steve Matthes had Dylan Ferrandis as one of his many guests on his Pulp MX show this week (listen here) and admitted to the Frenchman that he didn’t think he would be this good in America – despite seeing him in MX2 GPs and the MXDN!
Steve spoke to Ferrandis about a few interesting subjects that you can read about below:
Southwick…It was a sand race maybe like Valkenswaard, the difference is there are only 250 and 450 classes here, in the GPs there are many more classes and that makes a huge difference on the track. We ride on Saturday and Sunday (in GPs) so for sure the track is a bit more bumpy and destroyed.
Adapting to the tracks… It’s really not easy every weekend. I am struggling a little bit with that. It’s really short (to learn the track) we have two practice of 15 minutes. At High point and Muddy Creek the track was muddy in the first practice so it was really, really different in the second practice. It is really difficult to learn the tracks.
At Hangtown and Glen Helen I went to ride the tracks before the race. I think that’s why I went really good at Glen Helen because I knew the track before. Southwick, when you come from Europe it is much easier than the American riders who never train in the sand. I raced so many races in the sand, in the second lap of practice I feel the sand skill I needed for that race.
I never lived in Belgium. I always lived in my house in the south of France with a compound with a motocross and supercross track. I always stayed there for training I just went to Belgium or Holland before the sand races. We don’t have much sand in the south of France!
On his good results…I am a bit surprised how I did at supercross. I came here injured, I broke my knee and my arm at the end of the year. I had to wrok with Gareth Swanepole to recovery my injury. Then after we start to ride, I just strted to ride supercross in janurary, the preparation was really short and everything was new, I didn’t know what to expect. I always dream to ride supercross in the United States, that gave me the motivation and more energy to give everything.
The most difficult to thing to adapt to in America and his favourite French rider… The food, my French stomach is not really adapted to the American food! Especially at the beginning my stomach got really sick. In racing the most diffuclt part was the short practice In supercross you have two ten minute practice to learn the track at the guys go full gas from the start to the end (of practice). This was difficult GP. The AMericans struggle to say my name, it’s a little bit weird for me because it’s not really that difficult!
My favourite rider is DV, we are from the same area in France and his father was training all the riders and making my suspension when I was really young. I was dreaming about making a career like David, to leave France and make a career in America. We leave everything, our family, to go ride supercross because the best place to ride supercross is America.
On Cairoli wining MXGP… With my team we talk about who can be champion and I say Cairoli for sure. Last year he was injured, when he is not injured he is the number one contender for the championship.
