Tim Ferry

An Interview with Tim Ferry
Story & Photos by Eddie Graveline
www.motopress.net

99% of the off-season hype this year has been centered on Jeremy McGrath and Ricky Carmichael. While that's certainly understandable, don't forget about Team Yamaha's Tim Ferry. No, he wasn't in the top three in Supercross last year, but don't forget that he spent more than the first half of the season adapting to riding a big four-stroke on the tight indoor tracks. What you need to remember is the last couple of rounds where "Red Dog" was on the podium. You also need to reflect on his win at Glen Helen and many other solid performances in the National series. Ferry was lonely in the Yamaha rig at the U.S. Open (David Vuillemin was in France), but he carried the company torch in a very respectable fashion. On a track that was at best ill suited to the YZ426F, Ferry podiumed on the first night and would have done well the second if it weren't for bad luck on the start. The bottom line is this: Tim Ferry has gotten used to the four-stroke. He's gotten used to running at the front and challenging for the win every week. Most of all, he
wants to make sure that those who doubted him in the past end up regretting it. I spoke with Tim after the U.S. Open and got his thoughts on the race, the past season and the upcoming one.


Q: Tim, how did you feel about your riding here at the U.S. Open? The first night went well, but the second wasn't as good.
A: "My riding was great, for this track, being on a four-stroke. My speed is there. I have the speed to run up front now. The outcome sucked. I had one good night, but anything can happen. It's kind of like Arenacross. Me and LaRocco kind of hooked bars (on the start). The turn is only 25 or 30 feet wide and there are a lot of guys going into it. We were both at the wrong place at the wrong time and that's just the way it goes."

Q: In one of the heat races, you and Ricky Carmichael had a little battle going. He made a fairly rough block pass on you and you didn't seem to appreciate it.
A: "I don't mind because I do the same thing to everybody else. It didn't really bother me. It bothered me more that he passed me than anything else. I was more aggravated with myself. Ricky is coming off of an amazing season, maybe the most dominating that anyone has ever had. It's time that guys like me, Jeremy (McGrath), Kevin (Windham) and (Mike) LaRocco step it up and run his pace. I felt that I should have won this race and I'm kind of mad that I didn't. I had every opportunity to win it. I had good gate picks and everything."

Q: Obviously, the starts played a huge part in these races, but once things got going, it seemed like there were four or five guys running the pace.
A: "Yeah, actually I think there was three or four guys on the pace. Ricky, Jeremy, me and I think LaRocco was on the pace. Other than that, I think everyone else was a little bit off. But this it's not a good race to tell. It's a good race to let everybody know who's who and all that. I've stepped up a notch since my podiums at the end of the Supercross season and my speed's even better now than it was then. It's basically just a warm-up race. I came here to try to win this thing. The hundred thousand dollars would have been great, but to win it and beat those guys would have been way better than the money."

Q: Looking back to the start of the 2001 Supercross season last January, there is no comparison between your speed then and what it is now in Supercross. What's been the key to that improvement?
A: "There's been a lot of stuff. It took me a while to get used to the four-stroke. I've gotten in better shape. I've built my confidence up. I know that I need to be up front every time now. Before, I didn't give myself the credit that I deserved. It took me a couple of podiums to realize that that's where I should be. People have been telling me that for years. I think the confidence thing is a big deal for me now. I've been testing and I feel really good. I came here and my lap times were excellent. I'm looking forward to the season beginning. I'm definitely going to be a lot more ready this year than I was last year after having a whole year on the four-stroke."

Q: It seems like you're riding much more aggressively now. Is that because of that confidence that you have with your speed and knowing that you should be racing up front?
A: "I think my aggression has always been there. Maybe no one noticed it because I was always a little bit back in the pack. I definitely feel like I'm charging hard, maybe harder than I ever have. I just want to win like everybody else. Ricky rides on the edge and a little bit out of control because he wants to win. Jeremy wants to come back and prove himself too. I'm definitely a little bit more aggressive. Maybe not contact-wise, but the way I'm riding, charging the corners and putting a little extra effort in."

Q: The YZ426 has had a special place in the hearts of the fans since Doug Henry started racing the first one. Wherever you go, people cheer for the four-stroke. That's got to be fun for you.
A: "Yeah, the four-stroke guys are real loyal. I didn't even have to race it and I had fans. Last year at Anaheim I had more fans than I'd ever had before. It's definitely a good feeling. I'm trying to convert some of those two-stroke fans over. I think I'll have a lot more (fans) on my side. My fan base has gotten a lot bigger this year. I've gotten a lot more exposure in the magazines. I think it's mainly because of results and all of the hard work that I've put in. It's taken a couple of years. It doesn't happen overnight. You can't train hard one day and expect to do good at racing. It takes years of hard work."

Q: In the back of your mind, do you ever think about Suzuki letting you go after you won the 125 East Supercross championship and want to make them regret it?
A: For sure. At first, I thought about it every time I got on a bike for the first couple of years. Now, I think it's kind of a subconscious thing that I want to prove to them that they really screwed up. They didn't give me the opportunity on a 250 to prove myself. They didn't let me actually race it. I was not only not able to ride for them, but nobody else wanted me because I didn't have any 250 experience. I think they kind of held me back from that so every time I ride, that's where you see some of that aggression also."

Q: Based on your ability to gauge yourself against your competition this weekend, what do you take from this race and know that you have to do in order to win Supercrosses in 2002?
A: "Well, we-Jeremy, Yamaha and me-have been testing for the last five weeks and our goal was to come to this race and win. My goal was to win myself and it was the same with him. I think we prepared a little bit better than everybody. Our speed was there, where last year it wasn't. Carmichael was on a different level. Jeremy had a really tough time with crashes, but his lap times were good. Sometimes he had the fastest. I was on the mark with Ricky every lap, pretty much. I think it's good because he knows he's got competition now. He's got a couple of months to think about it and be worried about it. There's a lot of stuff going on in his life with changing teams and the crowd booing him this weekend, which is kind of odd. Now he knows that we're on his level. I don't know how he could go any faster. I don't see him stepping it up any more than he is. I think it's going to be a good season. There's going to be about four or five guys that can win this year."

Q: What's your schedule between now and Anaheim? Are you going overseas to race at all?
A: " I'm not really sure right now. It's not looking very good to go overseas. I've gotten some offers to go to European races that I've been planning on for months, but with the whole terrorist thing, it might not be a wise idea for us to go over there right now. I'd like to go, especially after not winning this race. I'd like to go over there and get some more rides under my belt and maybe some victories to get my confidence up even more. We'll see what happens. I think some of the riders are kind of backing out a little bit. More than likely, nothing would happen, but it's not worth us taking a chance on a race that doesn't matter. Our main goal is to race in the U.S."

Q: Thanks, Tim.
A: "Okay, thanks."

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