Dean Ferris will be coming home earlier than anticipated following the return of injured rider Aaron Plessinger to the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory squad.
The three-time MX Nationals MX1 champion was signed as the fill-in rider for Plessinger but was confident he would race the entire Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. However, with Plessinger returning to racing at Southwick, Monster Energy Yamaha and Ferris announced they will be parting ways prior to RedBud, denying Ferris the chance to live out his dream of racing a full season in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.
Monster Energy Yamaha said “With Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing Team’s Aaron Plessinger returning to full fitness, the team and replacement rider Dean Ferris have come to a mutual agreement to part ways for the remainder of this season. The Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing Team will contest the rest of the 2019 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship with its original two-man team of Justin Barcia and Plessinger, and would like to thank Dean for his very respectable results supporting the team while Plessinger was out with injury.”
Team manager Jim Perry added “It was a pleasure to have Dean filling in for the opening rounds of the 2019 Lucas Oil Motocross Championship while Aaron was recovering from injury. Now that Aaron has returned to his #7 YZ450F, the Aussie national champ has decided to return home down under. The Monster Energy Factory Yamaha team appreciated his strong work ethic and commitment while in the states, we wish him all the best in the future.”
Dean Ferris posted to Instagram explaining a number of factors contributed to his departure from the Yamaha squad, “Due to a wide range of factors and careful consideration my time here in the USA has come to an end. I’d like to start by saying a huge thank you to all of you for the amazing support I have received since declaring my intentions to race the AMA @promotocross championship. It has been a crazy few months trying to make it all happen! But upon mutual agreement with Monster Energy Factory Yamaha I finalised my contract after Southwick National and will not be lining up this weekend at Redbud, I will instead be returning home to Australia.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the team for their support throughout the first half of the season and would like to wish both @aaronplessinger_7 & @justinbarcia a killer second half.
“I would also like to thank @foxmoto @foxracingaustralia @recover8_au and everyone else who helped make it all possible! I will give everyone another update regarding what’s next for me in the coming couple of weeks when I get home and confirm it all. Thank you again for all your ongoing support 👊🏼🇦🇺.”
Ferris contested six rounds of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship for the Factory Yamaha team with his best results eighth overall at Southwick, Florida and Thunder Valley. The Yamaha rider only finishing outside the top-10 twice, with a pair of 11th place finishes. His results were comparable to that of his full-time factory teammate Justin Barica, even beating him at Thunder Valley by one position.
Meanwhile, Aaron Plessinger on his return from injury and debut season in the 450MX class has posted 17th and 11th overall in his only two races.