Image: Octopi Media.

Nashville marked an important milestone for the Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Ducati Factory Racing team, with 450SX rider Dylan Ferrandis achieving a top-five result before an ‘annoying’ post-race penalty relegated him to sixth.

The 31-year-old was making forward progress in the latter stages of the main event with a podium position in sight, before an off-track excursion through the sand section hindered his charge.

Although crossing the line in P5, Ferrandis was later penalized one position due to his re-entry, which involved missing the entire left-hand turn following the sand. Despite the penalty, he remained largely encouraged by the result.

“This was the best finish for the team this season – my best finish,” commented Ferrandis. “Of course, it was great, and I was still closing the gap to the guys in front of me, which was awesome.

“To have that position docked is pretty annoying, because I went off the track in the sand trying to make a pass, and I lost a position trying to make that move – so I already lost some time.

“It’s more disappointment, but the good thing is that we know that the change we did this week with the team is in the right direction, and we’re making progress. We put this bike in the top-five, so we achieved a goal. So now we’ll set the bar higher.”

Round 13 of Monster Energy Supercross marked a step forward in the Desmo450 MX’s development, as Ferrandis and the team continue to make progress throughout the Italian manufacturer’s maiden Monster Energy Supercross campaign.