Image: Octopi Media.

A perfect day out at Washougal has signalled Haiden Deegan’s intentions in the final stages of the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship, the 250MX rookie going 1-1 for the overall victory.

It was Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Deegan who hit the front early and controlled the early stages of 250MX moto one, maintaining an advantage of around five seconds through much of the encounter.

Behind him, teammate Justin Cooper started applying pressure in the final 10 minutes, until points-leader Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) – who was as far back as sixth on the first lap – gradually moved forward into podium position and eventually made the move for P2 in the closing laps.

It was Deegan, however, who managed to hold on at the front to win by 2.762s – on the weekend where Yamaha is opening its 50th anniversary of the YZ range celebrations – ahead of Lawrence, with Cooper another four seconds back in third.

Fourth was RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), ahead of Maximus Vohland (Red Bull KTM) after he challenged for the podium early, with Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), teammate Seth Hammaker, Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha), Carson Mumford (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) and Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) the top 10.

Austin Forkner went down in the first turn and rebounded for 21st, while also Ryder DiFrancesco (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) and Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM) were first lap casualties, each ruled out for the remainder of the moto.

When the gates dropped on moto two it was a three-way Star Racing fight at the front, led by Cooper ahead of Kitchen and Deegan. From that point, Cooper began to stretch an advantage out front, with opening race winner Deegan making his way by Kitchen at midway.

It was Deegan who put on a late charge to set the quickest lap of the race and, with that, made his way by Cooper into the lead with four laps remaining. That allowed him to again take control for the second time this afternoon, going on to win by 7.974s from Cooper, with Kitchen holding strong for third on the podium.

Lawrence recovered from an error of his own to finish in fourth position, comfortably ahead of Hampshire in P5. Sixth to 10th included Hammaker, Shimoda, Vohland, Mumford and Forkner.

Overall, Deegan went 1-1 to clinch the overall ahead of Cooper, with Lawrence rounding out the top three. As a result, Deegan has closed to within three points of Lawrence, with Cooper now a further 16 in arrears entering into the upcoming two-weekend break in the series before Unadilla on 12 August.

Detailed results