Image: Octopi Media.

A dramatic loss of power in the opening 250MX moto at Thunder Valley had defending champion Haiden Deegan uncertain what the cause was during the race’s late stages, going on to record a 2-2 scorecard for second overall after being denied any chance of a perfect season.

Deegan launched to a top-three start in the first outing, entering P2 quickly and began stalking the race leader – Chance Hymas (Honda HRC Progressive) – from there, as the pair would stretch out to a 40-second margin over third position.

In the final laps of the moto, however, Deegan’s Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing YZ250F would begin to steam, ultimately losing its power at the notoriously difficult circuit due to the altitude, with the number one eventually limping home to salvage a P2 result.

It was unclear whether the malfunction was rider-induced with Deegan exerting too much from his bike under the conditions, or if it was an incident that was out of his control, which is something he attempted to clear up following the motos.

“I’m not sure, they [the team] said at first that, ‘It’s on you,’ then they said, ‘It’s not on you,’ so… I don’t know what happened,” Deegan recalled. “I just lost all my power, which is what it is. In the second moto, I ended up tipping it over, but whatever, [we finished] 2-2 on the day.

“Today was pretty good for what it could have been, with my bike almost blowing up in the first one. It was a consistent day and I doubled my points gap. A lot of these guys threw away their first rounds, and that’s where I’m good – I’m just consistent and that’s why I win these championships.”

Deegan now holds a 25-point lead over second-placed Jo Shimoda (Honda HRC Progressive), while Hymas climbs to P4 in the standings after his Colorado victory, four points outside of Garrett Marchbanks (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) who sits third.