Dylan Ferrandis Wins Back-to-Back 250SX West Titles for Yamaha AMA Championship Three-peat

June 23, 2020—On June 21, 2020 at the final round of the AMA 250SX West Championship held in Salt Lake City, Utah, Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing’s Dylan Ferrandis finished 4th aboard his #1 plated YZ250F to clinch the 2020 championship for back-to-back titles. With Aaron Plessinger’s 2018 championship win, this marked a third consecutive title for Yamaha in the class.

The AMA Supercross Championship was the first series of racing to get underway in 2020, kicking off on January 4 in Anaheim. Ferrandis finished 2nd in the 250SX class season-opener for a strong start. He crashed on the first lap at the next round in St. Louis but fought back to finish 12th and then took his first win of the season at Anaheim 2. He followed that up with another 2nd place in Glendale and notched another win at Round 5 in Oakland to vault to the top of the standings. He won again at Round 6 in San Diego before the break in the season for the East class to begin.

Round 10 was held on schedule on March 7 in Daytona, but the subsequent global spread of COVID-19 put the series on hold. Following discussions and deliberation, the decision was made to hold all the remaining rounds at the Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah on Sundays and Wednesdays with no fans in attendance starting on May 31. The 250SX class returned to action on June 10, with Ferrandis taking 2nd and then again at the next round to open up a 7-point gap to his rivals coming into the final round.

The final round was the East-West Showdown, featuring riders from both classes in a single main event. The heat races to qualify for it were held separately for East and West riders, and Ferrandis fell shortly after the start before remounting to finish 10th. That forced him to ride for the first time in the Last Chance Qualifier race, but he won and guaranteed a place in the main event. In the main event, his main title rival crashed and the race was red-flagged and restarted. With his rival gone, Ferrandis rode a solid race to come across the line in 4th to clinch his second consecutive title win, earning 200 points in total from seven podium finishes that included three wins. The Frenchman will also compete in the AMA 250MX championship set to start on July 19, where he will be aiming to make it two-for-two in 2020.

Dylan Ferrandis – 2020 AMA 250SX West Champion

“I’m pretty pumped about the way I ended this season even though I had a very difficult day. It was the most difficult day of my life. There was so much emotion today after having to win the LCQ. I’ve never had to race an LCQ in my four years of supercross and to have to come through today with the championship on the line, that was tough. I secured my championship in the Main to get back-to-back 250SX West titles. It is more than a dream come true. Thanks to my team, my wife and my trainer DV (David Vuillemin). I’m so happy!”

Wil Hahn – Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing Team Manager

“It was a great night for us with Dylan taking back-to-back titles in the 250SX West Championship! Shane gave us his all, but just came up short. It was a crazy night with a lot going on with guys fighting for wins and the championship. I’m happy for our team. It was a solid season for our guys. Now we move on to the Outdoors and look to bring home the championship there.”