Don’t Expect Levi Kitchen to Fade

Haiden Deegan expects Levi Kitchen to fade late in the motos. Data from moto 2 may suggest he can’t expect that to happen this summer.

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Haiden Deegan: “I knew he’d start fading”

“I was behind Levi [Kitchen], I know Levi. I’ve trained with him for years,” Haiden Deegan said on the 250MX podium after moto 1 at the 2024 Fox Raceway Pro Motocross. “Even though he made a mistake I knew eventually he’d start fading a little so I was going to get him in the end.”

Love to hear the confidence and zing from Deegan. Maybe Kitchen overheard him and got fired up because he turned it around in moto two. Let’s examine closer:

250 Moto 2: Deegan vs. Kitchen, Lap Ranks

This heat map from moto two shows how fast (and consistent) Deegan and Kitchen were. Deegan set the single fastest lap time in 8 of the 14 laps.

Kitchen was fastest on 5 laps but never worse than second fastest (and he had the single fastest lap overall. More on that below).

250 Moto 1: Deegan vs. Kitchen

Now let’s fall back to moto one. Kitchen, technically, did run slower lap times late, as you can see by this chart below. The rank indicates where that lap falls amongst every lap run for all 40 riders for the 15 total laps.

I knew eventually he’d start fading a little so I was going to get him in the end.

Haiden Deegan on Levi Kitchen

Deegan was still running top 20 overall lap times as the moto wound down. Kitchen was running lap times outside the top 20 and then it’s obvious where he got stabbed in the shin by a track marker. Lap 14 ranked 124th overall.

250 Moto 1 – Late Race Comparison

Moto 1 Fast Facts

• Haiden and Levi set 17 of the fastest 20 laps. Tom Vialle was fastest in the other 3 laps – 9th, 19th, and 20th fastest laps.
• Kitchen was the only 250 rider to drop into the 2:24 range and his fastest lap was +1.000 faster than Deegan.
• Deegan was fast late in the race – he set the 18th, 17th, and 10th fastest laps of the entire race on laps 12, 13, and 14. Levi’s laps ranked 24th, 28th, and 124th on those same laps (see chart above).

Moto 2 Facts

• Haiden and Levi were on fire: they set 19 of the 20 fastest laps. Chance Hymas was the only other rider with a top 20 fastest lap and it ranked… 20th.
• Kitchen once again set the fastest lap of the moto and was the only 250 rider to drop into the 2:26 range, but it was just 0.037 faster than Deegan’s fastest lap.
• There was no late race drop off from Levi this time…