HAIDEN DEEGAN GRIT-226 250MX

HAIDEN DEEGAN | GRIT-226 | 250MX

Though stating that he'd raced this track before (amongst an amateur classification), Yamaha's Haiden Deegan knew that the environment of Southwick would be difficult as temperatures began to rise on Saturday. There was little that could truly prepare him for what was in store for both moto's of 250cc competition, though he appeared to be on the right track after qualifying ninth in practice. He began the trek of the first moto not long thereafter, and would find himself battling amongst the latter portions of single-digit registry as minutes began to pass. He and teammate Levi Kitchen seemed to be conducting a similar pace, where after around five laps of competition, they found themselves nearly moving in an identical flow amongst the Massachusetts circuit. Deegan was situated near an eighth-place territory as the fifteen-minute mark came to pass, though he was less than two-seconds from Max Vohland who occupied sixth. Deegan then made a decisive pass on the KTM rider, before closing-in on Seth Hammaker (whom he would pass, briefly) prior to embarking on a strenuous battle. This would occur with around ten minutes remaining on the clock, but the hard-charging spirit of the number 238 ultimately prevailed as sprinted forward with full-speed on the roughest of straightaways...making the mass on Hammaker "stick," to claim fifth on the leaderboard. All seemed to be well, until a crash in the final moments of competition appeared to briefly deter his changes of a top-five finish...though he would ultimately rebound quickly, and actually gained a position on behalf of Lawrence's mechanical failure, resulting in a fourth-place categorization before beginning the second moto. His initial standing of tenth (in round number-two) would be quickly involved amongst a battle of sorts, with Honda's Hunter Lawrence; who would pass him and proceed to keep him at bay. Though Deegan was a mainstay in the latter portions of the top-ten, proving that even as a rookie, he had the tenacity to excel on one of the toughest tracks in the country! He would remain relatively mistake free throughout twenty minutes of competition, before washing the front-end in a sweeping right-handed corner...allowing Levi Kitchen to move forward, and occupy the standing of ninth. However he then held strong within the tenth-place designation, pushing through the instances of precipitation falling while scrubbing his way over the multitude of anthills...which had him residing tenth as the dust settled in Southwick, strong enough for an admirable sixth-place overall.

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