Image: Octopi Media.

Opening the new Pro Motocross with a fourth-place result overall at Fox Raceway was a satisfying way to start season 2024 outdoors for Dylan Ferrandis, the former 450MX champion managing to overcome a major crash in moto one.

Ferrandis – winner of the premier class title in 2021 – made a positive first impression in motocross with the Phoenix Racing Honda team at Pala, qualifying within striking distance of Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) in P4.

The 29-year-old Frenchman ran fourth for much of the opening encounter until crashing heavily in the closing laps and dropping to seventh, before he managed to rebound later in the afternoon to take the checkered flag in fifth position. Those results placed him an encouraging fourth overall for the weekend.

“I mean, without my crash, moto one would have been way better,” Ferrandis recalled. “I was really pushing hard and feeling great in moto one, but had a terrible crash – at some point I was thinking my day would be over, but I got back on the bike and tried to finish.

“Moto two was fine, I was still not very great from the crash, but anyway, a bad start didn’t help, for sure. The bike was awesome, honestly, for a first round with a new bike, I felt very great. I had a lot of fun, even if the track was very challenging and a little sketchy. It was a lot of fun.”

Ferrandis missed much of the Monster Energy Supercross season’s middle stages through illness, crashing out of Birmingham and then not returning until round 15 in Philadelphia. He went on to claim 9-9-8 results across the final three rounds, before setting his sights on the AMA Pro Motocross Championship.

“The transition from Supercross to motocross was very short, but we had enough time to test a little bit, and make me feel good on the bike,” he said leading into the weekend. “Obviously, I enjoy riding the bike and that’s what matters the most for me.”