Slaw Dog
I put zero stock in a pro debut. 1) It’s a lot of pressure and 2) most of the time these young kids are jumping in at the end of a series. So, yeah.
Haiden Deegan made his highly anticipated pro debut at Ironman over the weekend and it was a roller coaster. He had a MASSIVE crash in the first moto and then went down in turn one in moto 2. The results weren’t there, but damn, the kid showed speed and grit in finishing out the motos. His 34-24 motos for 31st overall don’t tell the entire story.
“It started off well in the first moto and I just tried to work through the pack a little bit, and I felt like I was riding super well,” he said in a team press release. “I lost my rear brake on the second lap, though, which was unfortunate, but I felt like I was flowing and could run the speed with those guys. I made a little rookie mistake trying to do a little double and went over the bars. That was it for the moto. I was a little banged up but lined up for the second moto and ended up getting taken out a little past the start. From there, I just tried to make my way back up through the pack. It was a big learning experience for me, and I know what I need to work on to get into the top 10.”
Also, we need to consider a year ago around this time he was racing supermini. Relax, he’ll be fine. Let’s see how he does this weekend at Fox Raceway 2. I guarantee it will be better.
Main image: Yamaha
