Why Does Everyone Hate Dylan Ferrandis?

Fans are brutal. Out of one side of their mouth they say how they want riders to be aggressive, make block passes and fight for positions on the track. Followed up by saying how they want riders to show emotion and their real personalities. They don’t want riders giving vanilla and boring interviews. 

Well, there is a rider racing right now who has the passion, who rides aggressively, who wants to win as bad as anyone and will make a hard block pass. This same rider has shown emotion after a race like maybe we have never seen before. He has celebrated, he has cried, he has smiled and he is incredibly grateful. But why does everyone hate this rider? 

Think about it. If he is an American and rides with the passion and aggression that he does and then gets on the podium and is as happy as he was after getting his first 450 podium, he would basically be called Travis Pastrana. Who was one of, if not, the most adored rider ever!

It’s because his name is Dylan Ferrandis!

Do you remember Ricky Carmichael? Do you remember Indy SX 2002 when Carmichael was racing for the lead with the adored Travis Pastrana and went for an opening to make an aggressive pass when Travis made a mistake, only to have Travis fall down pretty much all on his own? Because of this the GOAT was booed so loudly on the podium you almost couldn’t hear his interview. Ricky is celebrated nowadays as one of the riders who did it the right way!

Fast forward to Anaheim 2 last season. Dylan Ferrandis spent six laps catching YouTube vlogger and family man Christian Craig for second place. He catches him so fast and sees a gap almost out of nowhere that he underestimates the consequence, thus taking Craig out in one of the most spectacular take outs ever. He gets up and charges back to catch race leader and Aussie donut wonder boy Jett Lawrence, who then has his own highlight reel crash on the last lap. At the end of the night Dylan then was booed so loudly you couldn’t hear his interview on the podium either. This lingered into multiple more races last season and maybe more.

Now this isn’t just American on French hate crime. Oh no! Justin Barcia at the Paris Bercy SX a few years ago took out a French rider and had the entire arena ready to rip his head off. Rumors are it was dangerous with how angry the French fans were. Known for his aggressive riding, most American fans love it. Well, the French fans treated BamBam like the American fans treated Dylan.

I share all of that because Tuesday night Dylan Ferrandis got his first ever 450 class podium at Houston 2 in only his second race in the class ever. Even after sustaining an off-season injury that took him off the bike for a month in a critical time leading up to the season. At Houston 2 he did it with an amazing ride battling through what a lot of experts call one of the most talented and deep fields ever!

A great Tweet I saw from @DB0360: “My Dad said he reminded him of the old Hannah days the way Dylan was flyin sideways pinned thru the whoops.” A former Monster Energy exec texted me “he is fast, puts the work in.”

During his podium TV interviewed Dylan showed a happiness that was inspiring and refreshing. You couldn’t wipe the smile off his face if you tried. Dylan was almost speechless and was very emotional. There as a youthful exuberance about him that was honestly refreshing! He was like a kid on Christmas. What is not to love about that?

He is Pastrana, he is Carmichael, he is Hannah and he is Barcia. Aren’t those four of the most exciting riders ever?

Dylan, keep it up. Share more of your passion and excitement. Let the American fans into who you really are. Because by the looks of it you are someone people should cheer for.

We need more riders like Dylan Ferrandis.

Main image: Octopi Media / Instagram: Octopi Media