Ferris, who travelled to Europe during a break in the Australian National Championship in order to gain some racing experience amongst the world’s top racers. This past weekend 19 year old Ferris headed to Kester for Round 2 of the Belgian Championship where he went head to head with a group of the MX1 and MX2 GP stars.

In the opening 30 minute moto the 100% standard Honda 450cc machine of Ferris was super quick out the gates and as the riders headed through the trees on lap one the young Australian was firmly amongst the top 10. To the delight of the fans a hard racing Ferris pushed up into 6^th position, but the charging Kawasaki duo of Van Horebeek and Pourcel eventually got their way past after a number of laps. For the remainder of the moto Ferris and Coppins banged bars corner after corner as the two riders tried in vain to hunt down Strijbos. With just a few corners remaining the more experienced Coppins set Ferris up for a pass, and at the end of a very exciting race the number 111 Honda of Ferris crossed the line in 9^th position.

Having struggled to get the bike prepared in time for race 2 (after some damage sustained in the opening race), Ferris arrived at the line late and had to line up on one of the last gates for the race, however he managed to remain focused and make the most of the situation. Heading around the opening lap Ferris was mid pack and fighting hard to get through, but with the circuit starting to get rough and one lined it was not an easy task. In the end Ferris crossed the finish line to take 14^th position on moto 2, awarding him 11^th overall for the day.

Dean Ferris talked about his experience:”Today was a great opportunity for me to race against many of the top GP riders. In the first moto I got a good start and was able to race for a solid result, it was great fun racing so close with Josh (Coppins). In the second moto I had to race from further back, which was really tough. I was having to take the smooth lines as much as possible and keep off the bumps because the back end was kicking so hard, but in the end I was 14^th which given the circumstances is ok. There was no pressure for me today, it was just a chance to get out here and race and get some experience in Europe. All in all I enjoyed it”

Results

Moto 1
1 GUARNERI Davide
2 RAMON Steve
3 LEOK Tanel
4 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy
5 SIMPSON Shaun
6 POURCEL Sébastien
7 STRIJBOS Kevin
8 COPPINS Joshua
9 FERRIS Dean
10 ROELANTS Joel
11 VAN DAELE Marvin
12 KLEIN KROMHOFF Ceriel
13 VERBRUGGEN Dennis
14 DE REUVER Marc
15 LAEREMANS Bengt

Moto 2
1 RAMON Steve
2 STRIJBOS Kevin
3 GUARNERI Davide
4 SIMPSON Shaun
5 LEOK Tanel
6 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy
7 DE DYCKER Ken
8 POURCEL Sébastien
9 VAN DAELE Marvin
10 DE REUVER Marc
11 ROELANTS Joel
12 COPPINS Joshua
13 PRIEM Manuel
14 FERRIS Dean
15 VAN NOOTEN Jurgen

Overall
1 RAMON Steve 47
2 GUARNERI Davide 45
3 STRIJBOS Kevin 36
4 LEOK Tanel 36
5 SIMPSON Shaun 34
6 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy 33
7 POURCEL Sébastien 28
8 VAN DAELE Marvin 22
9 COPPINS Joshua 22
10 ROELANTS Joel 21
11 FERRIS Dean 19
12 DE REUVER Marc 18
13 DE DYCKER Ken 14
14 MARTENS Yentel 9
15 KLEIN KROMHOFF Ceriel 9

Championship Standings
1 RAMON Steve 97
2 GUARNERI Davide 85
3 LEOK Tanel 74
4 STRIJBOS Kevin 61
5 POURCEL Sébastien 61
6 VAN HOREBEEK Jeremy 60
7 DE DYCKER Ken 52
8 DE REUVER Marc 51
9 VAN DAELE Marvin 43
10 ROELANTS Joel 35