It has been a while but Dylan Ferrandis was back racing in Europe at the weekend by contesting the Paris Supercross in his home country. It was nice for the French fans to see Ferrandis back on home soil.
We caught up with Ferrandis after the racing to discuss his weekend. You can watch, read or listen below:
GateDrop: Dylan, I think it’s been a long time since you’ve actually raced in Europe. So first of all, is it nice to be back in France? You know what they say, there’s no place like home.
Ferrandis: Yeah, it’s my home race, that’s for sure. Five years ago, I think that was the last time I raced this event. Yeah, it was pretty good. Good weekend, a lot of fun. It was good to see all the people and all the moto industry, the same as when I left.
GateDrop: How would you sum up your weekend? I feel like the pace was good, just a few bad starts and the crash there in the last one, I think it was. But overall, are you happy with where you are at?
Ferrandis: Yeah, the speed is coming back, the fitness also. The start was a problem. I don’t know, I think we messed up a little bit. We bring an engine, but not a full engine so maybe it affected my start, I don’t know. But yeah, for sure the start was bad. But yeah, I mean, I was in the fight for podium, so that’s what I want and it was pretty good, just the last race, I crashed at the start. But yeah, unfortunately I couldn’t finish.
GateDrop: You’re okay though, yeah? All good?
Ferrandis: Yeah, yeah, only just bruised.
GateDrop: That’s good. I mean, you’re a 250 supercross champion. Just how difficult is the step whenever you go up to the 450’s?
Ferrandis: Just the level of the competition is crazy. There are so many champions and so many super talented guys. It’s hard. Today the 450cc level in supercross is insane. You’ve got to be perfect if you want to do just the podium.
GateDrop: You’ve obviously won the supercross title in the 250s, you’ve won in the 450s outdoors. I still feel like you haven’t showed your true potential in supercross… Not always due to speed, but maybe bad starts or crashes. Would you agree with that?
Ferrandis: I mean, I don’t know, I’m getting old. I’m 30 now, so it’s going to be more and more difficult. But yeah, what I know is I’m capable to do it. I don’t know if I’m capable to win, but I’m sure I can fight for podium and top five. Doing this today in Supercross in the U.S., it’s very hard.
GateDrop: You made the switch to the Honda last year. Just how did you find making the switch after being on the Star Yamaha for many years? Was it easy to adapt or did it take you a while?
Ferrandis: It was a little more difficult than I expected. Especially, I was a big fan of the HRC bike but I was not on an HRC bike, I was on a Honda that we tried to build the best. But it was different, so it was not that easy. But this year, with the new bikes coming, it’s better. We’re getting closer to what I’m looking for and the new bikes are amazing.
GateDrop: And when you’re heading into the AMA Supercross season, have you got any goals you’d like to achieve? I guess you’d like to be on the podium again, at least…
Ferrandis: Yeah, for sure, the podium is the main goal. Trying to be in the top five every race would be the best.
GateDrop: You are riding and spending a lot of time with the Lawrence brothers. What’s that like and does that help you, riding with them at the test track?
Ferrandis: Yeah, it’s fine, it’s pretty cool. We are not trying to really retrain, but it’s more cool than anything. It’s not like a race every day. Everyone does their own thing, and we train on our own.
GateDrop: When you were in Europe, when you were racing the MX2 World Championship, you were obviously battling with Jeffrey Hurlings, and now you’re battling with Jett Lawrence. What’s it like, battling with all these top guys? Obviously they’re very different. Herlings is quite aggressive, whereas Jett is so smooth. Different styles, that way?
Ferrandis: Yeah, completely different. What Jett is today, Jeffrey was that guy a couple of years ago. We can’t compare them. They’re both top guys in the sport, and will be top guys for a long time, I think.
GateDrop: Perfect, thank you very much for your time and good luck.
