A week of conjecture. At Hangtown, did Tom Vialle put pressure on Haiden Deegan and force a mistake? Or did Deegan just crash on his own? Deegan says that wasn’t pressure, pressure was having Jo Shimoda on him at the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) finale last year and holding strong to win the crown. Vialle, well, he didn’t say much (as usual) but he did go faster than Deegan on four-consecutive laps last Saturday, before Deegan ramped the pace back up, but then fell.
No matter. We don't need to solve this equation at Hangtown, not with so many motos left. The duo didn’t waste much time picking it right back up again in moto one of Thunder Valley, pushing each other the whole way. Deegan led early and would pull away slightly, Vialle would close back up at times, but then Deegan looked to have it in hand again until he crashed. Then the battle was on.
"First moto I went down while leading, that was a stupid mistake," said Deegan. "Those bumps were super slippery if you trust the front end, and I trusted it too much. I got up and I was like, 'Tom is not beating me again! That is not happening.' Just rode my heart out, got the pass and got the first moto win.”
Heck of a battle.
“I saw Haiden crash in the corner and actually pick up the bike really fast,” said Vialle. “He got back up in front of me and I was able to pass him in the next corner. I was able to lead for maybe three laps, and he passed me with a lap to go before the finish line. It was a good moto, we spent most of the race together. It was a good fight and we were way faster than the other guys. We pushed each other right until the last lap.”
Vialle made an error while trying to hold Deegan at bay. There was an inside line he knew Deegan would try to use against him. Deegan got close, but couldn't quite get there. On the next lap Vialle knew Deegan would try again, until he straight up….forgot!
“When I went outside I was like, 'Oh he’s going to pass me,'" Vialle said with a laugh. "And I was like, 'Why am I doing that [going outside].' Because the lap before he almost passed me and I knew I had to go inside and then I forgot it.”
“I just hail-maryed it,” said Deegan. “We’re either going to come together and we both go down, or I’m going to make the pass! I just hail-maryed that jump and I made the pass. Same with Tom, when it’s white flag last lap you’re going to do anything to get the lead, right? Kind of a “Let’s do this real quick and hope that works.” Last lap me and Tom were close as well, that was tight! The first moto, it was solid.”
Vialle did have a chance to get it back on that last lap, and he ran it in deep and ended up crashing. Deegan, on the podium, threw some shade saying the move was “cute” but in the press conference he wasn’t bothered at all.
“Nah I don’t care,” said Deegan. “I’d have done the same thing.”
"Yeah, the speed was good but just made small mistakes, kind of stupid ones,” said Vialle. “Especially second moto, I was in third and I was feeling pretty good until the small crash. I think we had a good fight in the first moto, it was really tight. Second moto, just had a tip over in some ruts. Kind of frustrated, but overall I think me and the bike, we’re right there.”
“When you get up and you’re right there and going for it, and crossing each other up in corners, that’s fun,” said Deegan. “That’s old fashioned racing right there, like [James] Stewart and [Ricky] Carmichael going at it outdoors. You can keep it clean, obviously last lap you’d do some pretty gnarly stuff, but that was a good battle.”
| Rider | Hometown | Motos | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Haiden Deegan | Temecula, CA  | 1 - 2 | Yamaha YZ250F |
| 2 |  Chance Hymas | Pocatello, ID | 4 - 1 | Honda CRF250R |
| 3 |  Tom Vialle | Avignon, France  | 2 - 4 | KTM 250 SX-F |
| 4 |  Jo Shimoda | Suzuka, Japan  | 5 - 3 | Honda CRF250R |
| 5 |  Levi Kitchen | Washougal, WA | 3 - 7 | Kawasaki KX250 |
Following that first moto, and an overall disappointing day for Levi Kitchen (who was expecting Thunder Valley’s usual deep, long ruts but instead found a much shallower, hard packed track) it would appear Deegan and Vialle were about to break away in this title fight. Then moto two came around, and Chance Hymas logged the best race of his early career to dominate the proceedings. Now Hymas and Vialle leave Colorado tied for second in points. Vialle and Deegan battled, but they might not be alone going forward. Hymas, who has been strong at every race this year, is also in the hunt. Vialle also crashed again the second moto while trying to catch the duo ahead of him.
"Yeah the speed was good but just made small mistakes, kind of stupid ones,” said Vialle. “Especially second moto, I was in third and I was feeling pretty good until the small crash. Just had a tip over in some ruts. Kind of frustrated, but overall I think me and the bike, we’re right there.”
“Three rounds in and three wins is a dream scenario for me, it’s awesome,” said Deegan. “Obviously, Chance [Hymas] is riding really well, I didn’t have the speed for him. But I got the overall.”
