By Steve Matthes

This was an easy interview—Tim Ferry is one of my good friends and, for years, he has been the one asking all the questions like: “Why didn’t you tell me I was in third?” and “Hey, I forgot my wallet, can you get lunch?” or “Why didn’t you tighten my bar clamps before I got on the track?” This time, I was the one asking the questions….

RXC: Timmy, you must be happy with your season so far?
Tim Ferry: Yeah, it’s going good. Top five is where I want to be in supercross and I have been there every race. [Ed. note: Ferry is currently in third overall after San Francisco.] I haven’t been healthy for Supercross in two years so I am pleased with the way it’s going.

How much better is your bike than last year?
It’s definitely quite a bit better. I think that the combo of being healthy and a factory Kawasaki works pretty good. Moto XXX treated me good and did the best they could, but the factory just has so many more parts to try. I mean, we are three months into it and I am still testing things. With Moto XXX, you can go through everything they have in a couple of weeks. There is a huge advantage to being on a factory team.

The main thing is you’re healthy, huh?
Me being healthy is the number one difference. It wasn’t that I forgot how to ride the last couple of years at Yamaha, it wasn’t that I was too old, they just needed someone who could ride the bike for the whole season.

Okay, nobody really cares about that stuff anyways … let’s talk about you and the Rollerball! You’ve been telling me for years how you’ve raced him, now give us details.
I raced against Ross Pederson a lot in the Florida winter series—in 1991, 1992, maybe even 1993. I had just turned pro and I remember that I would beat him pretty bad.

Come on, no you didn’t, you’re lying!
At the hard packed tracks, I would beat him!

Not bad though…
Okay, not bad but I would beat him. I had those tracks wired though. When we got to the sandier tracks like Dade City or Cocoa beach, I had a really hard time with him. He would get good starts and ram me so hard! I had to be so cautious to pass him. I learned to protect my line from him after getting by. He was really good at those races and there were four 40-minute motos then…

Yeah well, he used to ride six 40s back in the day!
I’m sure he did, I have heard all these stories, running sand hills, chewing on nails…

No, he really did! I swear…
No, you had to be in really good shape and he was one of the only guys to be a contender in all the classes. Talent-wise, I was better, but he had so much endurance that when I got behind him I was just dreading passing him.

I could only imagine the terror of looking up and seeing the word “Rollerball” on the guy’s ass in front of you.
Yes for sure. He always made you work for every pass. I swear he would hit me so hard in every turn—I thought he broke my leg once.

Did you actually ever speak to the Rollerball?
No, I was just a kid; I don’t remember. In Montreal in 1998, I did speak with him, he kind of didn’t look like a motocross guy. He looked like a big strong construction worker! I didn’t really know who he was when I started racing; I was just some kid from Florida. There was money to be made and I wanted to get to the front of the pack as soon as I could. Once he hit me for the first time, I figured out who he was and got smarter the next time I had to pass him. He was probably the hardest guy I ever had to pass. No matter what speed he was going, he would punish me.

That Florida winter series was pretty cool. Why do you think it went away?
Well now the season is so long and it starts on the west coast. Back then it started on the east coast so that was a draw for guys. I would actually race the Supercross on Saturday night and then race the Winter Ams on Sundays. I made way more money racing those than supercrosses. I would fly back from the race, miss Sunday morning practice and then race.

I have always tried to educate you on Canada and its virtues. What do you think of Canada?
I have raced up there for a long time. I raced in Quebec in 1992 and 1993. Me and Kevin Crine in his motorhome—they had a little mini-stade series—I did the Montreal Supercross. I really liked Montreal, that was a cool race, and of course the world rounds. On year in Montreal, it had rained and the roof was open. I ran off the track and couldn’t get back on, I was just spinning on the concrete. I think I ended up 13^th or something. That’s too long of a flight to Vancouver for me though.

Was I the best mechanic you have ever seen?
You were the best Canadian mechanic I have ever seen, for sure.

Better than Paul Delaurier?
That’s right, Paul worked for me too. He was just starting out then so yeah, you were better than him.

But was I the best mechanic you’ve ever seen regardless of nationality?
Ummm … I don’t know about that, sorry! Like I said before, you were a decent mechanic but a very good “buddy.” You were good, real good. If you get a guy that is super smart about the bike, they don’t always have a personality. You have a good balance of personality and working on the bike.

What about your first pro race? That’s a good story.
I was in Japan for the Supercross. I was 16 and racing against Rick Johnson, Jeff Ward, all the legends of the sport. I don’t know how it happened, I had never really ever ridden a 250 before, for sure I had never ridden one in supercross. In the first lap of practice, I didn’t know, I figured I had better clear the triples right away. They were huge, like 75 feet, and none of these guys had jumped them yet. When I jumped them, RJ later told me that all the guys were laughing at this stupid Japanese rider who jumped all the triples. Even now RJ says to me, “What’s up Japanese guy?”

I came out second in the main—you made a left hand turn and hit the triple. I over jumped this thing, blew my hand off the bar, flew off the berm and landed on the camera guy. That was it for me!

Remember when we beat the King at summercross in 1999? Was that your biggest win ever?
It was my only big bike Supercross win. Some people don’t count it, but I am going ahead and claiming it. I got the trophy and the check so that’s good enough for me. My biggest win was probably the Unadilla National in 2002; I beat RC straight up, passed him and won the moto.

Thanks and I will come by your truck in a bit to grab something to eat.
Yeah I’m sure you will.