Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo may have been on his way to winning the opening moto of the season at the Fox Raceway 1 National before a crash set him back into the battle, eventually bringing home an 11th overall. Cianciarulo was looking to get right back to where he was at the opener before the crash this weekend in Thunder Valley and he put together a solid day to end up on the podium. Afterwards, he spoke with the media about his day, a new face under the Kawasaki tent, and more.
Racer X: Adam, great day today. Big bounce back from last week. You were sort of saying that the next two weeks there’s going to be a fair bit of work to do. What are some of the things you’re taking out of the first two rounds that you’re like, we need to work on this the next two weeks to come out swinging at round three?
Adam Cianciarulo: I think for me it’s just kind of getting back into the flow of racing, the race intensity. It’s difficult to mimic that in practice. I don't think I’ve raced since February, and it’s not like I had much of a base before that. I was not really doing a whole lot of riding this off-season. Just kind of getting back into the race condition. Clearly, beginning of the moto my speed is good and I’m just really not strong enough at the end. I feel like I can go as fast as those guys. It’s just going to take more laps, more time, more races and just more training during the week. I get two weeks in Florida. I haven’t been to Florida in a while, so that will be good. Train in the heat and do all that good stuff. Just really getting more time on the bike.
New guy under the tent there, Broc Tickle. He’s helping you with some settings, from what I understand, and you liked it. Did you directly use some of his stuff this week or some of his help in the bike?
Yeah, it’s been cool having Broc up. I’ve only had a couple days at the track with him, to be honest. It’s pretty new. I’ve always liked Broc, got along with him. I don't think you cannot get along with the guy. Super cool dude. Has good technique. Obviously, he’s a fast rider, like perfect test rider. I’ve bounced some stuff off of him back and forth, but I think it’s more of like he’s kind of getting used to the bike still. He’s had some opinions on some settings I’ve run. Like I said, I’ve just bounced some stuff off him. But nothing I don't think really directly correlating to what I’m running on the bike yet. I try to just tell the guys what I’m feeling. They put stuff on the bike, they let me know, I tell them if it’s good or not.
![Cianciarulo leading Ken Roczen in the first moto.]()
Cianciarulo leading Ken Roczen in the first moto. Align Media ![Cianciarulo leading Ken Roczen in the first moto.]()
Cianciarulo leading Ken Roczen in the first moto. Press Conference
Hansel was watching you and [Zach] Osborne in practice waving at each other, thumbs-upping. What was happening there in qualifying?
That guy. We’ve had an interesting relationship, him and I. it started with us getting into it in practice, if you guys remember. Maybe getting close to five years ago, and I ended up with a torn ACL so I couldn’t stand the guy for a while. But he’s a really cool dude. I respect him as a person. Now he always is getting behind me in practice, always. I looked back at him today before I did my fast lap. I’m not going to pull into the mechanics area or waste time out there. I’m like, you know what? Just grab a tow. Let’s take her to the front. That’s basically what I was signaling with him. But I’m always giving him crap for following me around.
You mentioned knowing that Kenny was telling the truth about his pre-season form. How much riding do you guys do together anymore? I know you used to ride together a lot. Do you see each other during the week or ride together during the week much, or has it been a long time now?
It’s been a long time. When he’s in California and I’m in California if we’re riding outdoors, we’ll hang out, wake up and ride. I’m at [James] Stewart’s and he’s at Sandbox in Florida right now, so we don’t get to ride together too much. Kenny has been one of my best friends since I just turned pro, like 16. As soon as he came over and we were all training together and stuff. So, I talk to him all the time. Mostly not about dirt bike stuff. It’s funny. We’re pretty transparent with each other and what we’re thinking about, what’s going on in our lives, in the sport and all that stuff. He was definitely not kidding when he said that he was coming in and wasn’t sure where he was at. He’ll tell you. We did a moto together in Elsinore a couple weeks ago and I put some time on the man. He beat me by 36 seconds the second moto. I’m like, come on, man.
Below is the full Thunder Valley National post-race Class press conference:
