Houston SX III: ‘I was stressing coming into this season!’ – Cianciarulo

Adam Cianciarulo returned to the podium last night in Houston. The ever-popular Monster Energy Kawasaki rider cruised to a fairly lonely third place, after being in the mix for the lead early on.
Cianciarulo looked relieved to find himself on the podium, ‘It feels good to get a solid result. It’s been an up and down first couple of races but overall, today was the best I’ve rode so far.’’ Said Cianciarulo.
 ‘‘I think the track being a bit more technical played to my strengths. I got a good start just behind Cooper and Ken. It’s funny because they are two totally different types of rider. Cooper is really good at getting better as the race goes on and Ken is really good at the beginning. I was doing my best to follow Copper, but those guys were riding great. I did my best and I’m proud of that. I’ve had a really steady day today and didn’t ever feel like I rode over my head. So, we will take this and move on to Indy.’’

Last year Cianciarulo show some great promise in his debut 450 season. But a few too many rookie mistakes kept him away from the championship fight. It was kept quiet, but during the off-season AC underwent surgery to sort out some issues with his arm, leaving a big question mark over how he would be able to perform during the early stages of the series.
‘My arm is better, I think. It’s weird, depending on the track its sometimes worse and affects me more. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t affect me at all,’’ confessed the Kawasaki ace, ‘‘Tonight I was good enough for a podium. I was stressing coming into this season. Everyone knows how stacked it is and for me I didn’t really get a chance to ride and build and work on some of the things I wanted to work on. I have felt a huge improvement from race one to now, so I’m very excited with the direction we are going in. It was a pretty stress-free night for me. I got some good starts in and rode well. I was riding smart and I’m happy to bring her home.’’

After a prodigious amateur career Cianciarulo faced a lot of adversity once he turned pro. Injuries and mistakes decimated what could have been a dominant stint in the 250 class for him. However, AC has always had a good head on his shoulders and these adversities have provided him with several life-lessons and a positive racing philosophy, ‘‘Racers are always nursing something. My philosophy is no matter what, even if I suck on a track or my hand hurts, I just try and do my best. In my career when I’ve had times where I have been discouraged about things and not done my best, that’s when I go home mad.  But if I give it everything, I sleep easy at night. So at this point in my career, I give it everything no matter what the circumstance.’’

With his outgoing personality and witty quotes Cianciarulo has been a fan favourite since even before he turned pro. So, he is glad to have had some level of fan presence in Houston, ‘‘Supercross to me without the fans doesn’t feel like Supercross. It feels like such a long time ago that we raced in front of a full stadium. It’s been weird without them, so it’s cool to have some back. I thought they were pretty loud tonight, they seem stoked.’’

Adam Cianciarulo will aim to keep the fans cheering next weekend when the SX tour arrives in Indianapolis.

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