Sixth in the Supercross Championship Series point standings is not where Team Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Tim Ferry wants to be. We caught up with Red Dog in Houston before practice, and this is what he had to say…
You are on the front page of the Houston Chronicle. Are you doing a big vet whip?
(Laughs) I was basically showing the rookie how to whip it.
You finished eighth last weekend, so where are you in the overall point standings?
I am sitting in seventh right now, and I am about 10 or 11 points out of third place right now. I think that’s where I am, but don’t quote me on that. I’m not too far out as far as the points are concerned, but last weekend was actually the best I’ve ridden all year long. Unfortunately, I fell in the main event, but I think I could’ve got Ivan [Tedesco] with the possibility of [Andrew] Short. The class is definitely a lot tougher now, but it’s really good.
There were a lot of comments about the track layout last week. What are your thoughts on it?
(Laughs) It really didn’t make a lot of sense. It made for good racing, but I don’t know if that’s what they were going for or not. I wasn’t too pumped on it, but I don’t think a lot of people were too happy with the layout. It was really one-lined and didn’t have any flow. It was rough! It felt like we were riding an outdoor track (laughs).
Have you had a chance to check out the Houston track yet?
Yeah. We actually got here on Wednesday and rode the track on Thursday for Press Day. I think we’ll finally see our first normal Supercross track this weekend, or what is considered normal. The whoop section is a little short, but other than that we’ll have two triples (laughs). We have a decent finish line jump instead of that freestyle jump we had last weekend, too (laughs).
Have you changed anything in your program to help you get back to where you were?
Not really. I think it’s a matter of circumstances, and I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything. From James [Stewart] back to me, we were all within the same second. My times are still there, so we’re just working on the start. I got banged around in the first turn and lost some spokes in my front wheel last weekend…
Did you know you were lacking spokes in the main event?
No. I never did realize it until they told me after the race. But the first turn was half as wide as it normally is, so I was just bouncing off guys, trying to stay up on two wheels. The start straight this weekend is a little short and tight, but it’s slow, which is good.
After finding out that your spokes were missing, did that make you think that your front wheel could’ve gone at any time?
(Laughs) Maybe a little bit, yeah. But our bikes are pretty tough these days. Bolts and side panels can come off and we’ll still be able to finish a race. It’s kind of like an airplane; you can land them with one engine or something, right?
What’s the goal for tonight?
My personal goal is to make up a few points on some guys. I’m not happy about being seventh in points, and I really feel like my speed is close with Ryan’s [Villopoto], but James and Chad [Reed] are going really fast right now. I think I should be inside the top five, but I really want to get back onto the podium. That’s not out of the question. I know I can do that without a problem, but I just need to get the start. I was fifth last year and third the year before, so Houston has been kind to me.
TAGS: florida mx, kawasaki, monster energy kawasaki, red dog, supercross, tim ferry
