Haiden Deegan was very impressive in every way on his WSX and 450 debut in Argentina. He didn’t make superpole qualifying seventh but vowed to “come out swinging” in the three main events and he did just that – but still rode smart and kept his emotions in check.
Deegan’s biggest issue was that he late to the pick his gate and that meant, according to the rules he would have last gate pick, not seventh and Deegan was forced to start from the outside gate every race leaving him at the back of the pack, especially in the first two 8 lap sprint races!
Deegan looked awesome on track however, through big fat whips in every race even as he came through the field to finish 5-6-3 with the 12 lap final moto seeing Deegan finally getting away in the top five and Deegan taking third, to secure the podium and not pushing too hard to catch Cooper or a long-gone Roczen.
Deegan however was riding the 450 with serious aggression, blowing tuff blocks on nearly every turn as he made the 450 machine explode out of turns but as Deegan does he manages the line of not going overboard and riding over the limit.
Deegan did it the hard way to show he has the stuff to be competitive if he does indeed race at A1 – especially given the small amount of prep time on the bike after his collarbone surgery.
Deegan wasn’t on Roczen’s pace but he was in the battle with Cooper and Anderson for second best on speed and that is impressive considering he has another 2 months to get time on the 450 before he decides to race West coast on the big bike.
But Deegan did admit after he burned through two clutches in the first two 8 lap motos! And, despite the harsh gate pick penalty, Deegan was in good spirits and was genuinely happy to get on the podium. This was an impressive performance under the circumstances.
Deegan said: “Man, I am just getting used to this bike still, so I was like just keep learning throughout the day, unfortunately we lost two clutches in the first and second moto. We are sending it, we are giving it all we got. The crowd was insane, I love Argentina!
“I dreamed of racing Ken Roczen since I was a little kid, I have photos of me in the grandstands and I have his jersey in my room so being on the same track as these guys, it’s a huge accomplishment for myself, my whole team and family, thank you guys.
“I was like whatever gets thrown at me, just learn today. I am sure we will have situations like this again, so just make the best of it and put a show on the for the crowd.”
Any doubts Deegan can’t adapt to the 450 are gone!
