Image: Octopi Media.

Former 450MX champion Dylan Ferrandis believes a setup change ahead of moto two at High Point was a positive step, leaving round four of 2023 Pro Motocross confident that both he and the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team ‘found something that I really like’.

Ferrandis has now completed eight motos outdoors onboard the all-new 2023 YZ450F, adjusting to and testing new settings on the platform across the opening races.

The number 14 qualified fourth on Saturday but ran into early trouble during the first lap of moto one, dropping well outside of the top 20. A spirited charge from Ferrandis saw him mount a comeback to P6 before a better start in the second race saw him fifth after lap one.

From there, he recovered from a tip over and moved past Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki) for third on lap 12 and ultimately finished just over a second shy of Ken Roczen (Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki) in P2. Ferrandis finished fourth overall for the round with a 6-3 scorecard.

“In the first moto, I made a mistake in the first turn and lost pretty much every position,” Ferrandis recalled. I was kind of dead last and had to come back through the field to finish sixth.

“In the second moto, I got a better start. We changed some stuff on the bike, and it was way better. I think we finally found something that I really like, so yeah, the feeling was great. It took me a little bit to understand the new setup, but then I got going pretty fast.

“So that was good. I finally had a good moto. I just had a little crash on lap two. I didn’t lose much time, but enough to maybe cost me the moto win or the overall podium today.”

Four rounds into the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship, Ferrandis is second in the 450MX standings and 49 points behind runaway red plate-holder Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC).