Ken Roczen’s jump back into the AMA Pro Motocross Championship delivered what the High Point fans wanted to see, as he led laps and challenged Jett Lawrence for the lead in both motos. Adam Cianciarulo’s run in moto two, though, was a big bonus, too! He rolled up on Roczen briefly in the second moto as both held Jett at bay for a bit. Adam still has some physical problems that lead to issues as the motos wind down, but his speed was enough to put him on the podium. As usual, he explained his day incredibly well in the post-race press conference.
Adam, kind of an up and down season for you. Nice to see you on the podium, you had two strong rides, good to see you making some progress. You’ve had some good results before at this track.
Adam Cianciarulo: Yeah I always seem to do pretty well here. Two weeks in a row where we’ve had tracks you have to be more focused than usual, like really locked in the whole time. What I mean by that is, obviously we’re always focused, but on a track like this if your mind wanders for one second you can find yourself on the ground. It’s really hard to not let any outside thoughts at all come into your head the whole time. I felt great with that the whole time, I felt like I was able to get the most out of it. The second moto was definitely the fastest, I guess the closest to that pace I’ve had in the past. I kind of felt that again, and that was really nice to kind of be right there behind Kenny, I put in some really good laps. Obviously, it’s kind of tough for me to hold on there, those second motos have been really difficult, but I was fast enough at the beginning to where I could get a good result. It’s been a great season for me so far and this is a really good confidence boost and morale boost. My team, my crew chief Oscar and my mechanic Justin, everyone has been great. Just a fun environment and we’re grinding day after day.
Did your hand go numb again?
Yeah so it’s not, everyone says numb, it doesn’t go numb, I just don’t have the same grip strength. Even when I’m driving my car, it’s different. I text with my left hand now, just because my right will hurt after awhile. If anyone has had nerve problems, they’ll understand because the symptoms are kind of all over the map. I do get numbness and tingling a little bit, but for the most part it’s lack of grip strength, and when I’m on the edge, and that’s kind of how I’ve made a living, riding on the edge, I end up on the ground a lot, because I don’t have that grip strength. So now I’m having to be more patient and learning how to go fast a different way. That’s what we’ve been working on all year. I don’t know if it ever will be perfect again but I can do everything I can, and I’m stoked with what we’ve been doing.
The paddle tire, scoop tire, Adam you stayed with it. That had to be maybe a decision you’d want to take back or no?
No way man, because of the start. It was all about the start. There was so much mulch on the straightaway and right where that straightaway crossed the track, it was really deep. I actually hooked a right. The ruts out of the gate were difficult, they were really long and kinda narrow and all over the place. I went right, into the deep stuff and I just held it wide open and was able to get elbows on a bunch of guys. I could have been tenth if it wasn’t for the scoop. It was definitely different riding with it in a few spots, like the little table top before the finish line, we were down to some PVC pipe there and we were sliding up the face. Anywhere where it was blue grooved it was tough. I tend to ride a little bit better with the scoop, actually, because you have to get the bike A to B straighter, be on top of the knobbies, and not be on such an angle. Kind of stay on top of the bike. Hard to explain, but yeah I always feel better on that tire.
As we get more of these guys back from injury, and the field gets deeper, how are you going to use what you learned on days like today to stay in this podium position?
Yeah. It’s been a tough season for injuries, of course, but I think when I’m on and I’m doing my think I feel like I can do this. I can be on the podium and win races, I feel like my talent is capable of that. Yeah, not everyone is here right now but I look forward to everyone coming back. I mean, you ask anybody, yeah it’s nice to get on the podium and get some momentum, but we’re racers and we want to race everybody. Like I said on the podium, just having that speed in the second moto, I haven’t had that in a really long time. It used to be normal for me and I took it for granted a lot, but it’s taken a lot of work for me to get there, and there’s been a lot of really frustrating days where I’m, yeah, just super pissed off. It just feels good to keep grinding, have a good attitude, keeping showing up, and good things happen.
What are you gonna do on the off weekend?
I think tomorrow as soon as I land we’re going straight to a baseball game, San Diego Padres, maybe get dinner in downtown San Diego. Business as usual during the week next week. It’s weird, the schedule is pretty gnarly since we’re on a plane every week, so when you get a weekend off you kinda want to be home. I live on a golf course now week so I’ll probably try to play some. And probably try to rest some, as well.