Adam Cianciarulo | Rookie Year Expectations
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PHOTOS | OCTOPI
The moment that Adam Cianciarulo has worked his entire life for is days away. Race wins, championships, season-ending injuries, and personal struggles have helped him get ready for what will be his true debut aboard a Monster Energy Kawasaki in a full-on Supercross race. It’s a milestone, something he’ll remember for the rest of his life, but the 23-year-old knows that he can’t get caught up in the moment because it’s a part of the bigger picture.
“I was just telling Nick (Wey, trainer and riding coach) that I don’t even think of winning that outdoor title. It’s just crazy how, in human nature, how you’re always looking forward to that next thing. I think for me right now, there is a little bit of that in the back of my head and I’m stoked to be a part of the premier class, a part of the show with the opening ceremonies thing, and having the potential chance to be the best Supercross rider in the world. Even just the chance to call myself that, I think it’s something that I will look back on in the years to come and will be stoked on it more than I am now,” said Cianciarulo when we talked at the end of December.
“Honestly right now, I am so focused on doing everything I can to be as successful as possible. I only have one Supercross rookie season ever, this is it. This is the farthest I’m going to go, being in this class. You can’t get caught up in the moment, because that could diminish the end result, so for me, it’s about staying present and doing my best. If we do that, I think we will be in a good spot, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t crazy excited. A lot of people know how much I am a fan of the sport and just to be one of those guys, out there, will always be special to me.” It’s a determined mindset, inspired by guys like Carmichael, Reed, and Stewart, all of whom Cianciarulo looked up to when he first started to follow the sport as a kid. “We’ve heard a lot of guys say that they wished they would have enjoyed it a little bit more, but that’s what made them so great, their ability to move on, to see that the work wasn’t done, and to no be satisfied,” Cianciarulo noted. “That’s one of the very defining characteristics of a champion and I’d be very silly not to copy that.”
When James Stewart was primed for his premier class debut at the 2005 Anaheim One Supercross, he boldly told Racer X Illustrated that, “My Whole Life Is About January 8.” That’s not the case with Kawasaki’s current rookie sensation and instead, he has his sights on the season as a whole. “If you are looking at Anaheim One by itself, that’s the wrong way to look at it. We race 14 or 15 weekends in a row, so it’s a marathon,” he explained. “I am looking at this year as a year to set me up for the future. I need to do the best that I can, and I think have the potential to be up there in the battle, to be competitive, and to potentially win races. Or who knows, maybe more than that. But that’s definitely not a one-race mentality. You have to look at it in the long-run and do your best while you are out there.”
Before we go too far, it must be clearly stated that Cianciarulo does not see himself as a clear-cut championship contender in 2020. No matter what fans or pundits may think after his win at the Monster Energy Cup, the ultimate goal for Cianciarulo and the Monster Energy Kawasaki team is to have the most successful rookie season possible, propped up with hopes of podium finishes and possible race wins. “I promise to you that I have had the same beliefs about Anaheim or in myself before Monster Cup as I did after. I really felt no different,” he clarified of his big win in October over a slew of speedy riders, including teammate Eli Tomac. There will be many more riders to contend with on more challenging tracks every Saturday night from now until May, and Cianciarulo is aware of that. “I think that it’s going to be different because obviously the field wasn’t crazy stacked at the Monster Energy Cup and I’ve done well at Vegas in the past. Not to discredit myself too much, but I don’t think it’s fair to call me a championship contender right off the bat because I won the Monster Cup. It helped my confidence a little bit, knowing that I can get it done and with Eli right there on me, giving me pressure, and really pushing the pace. But beyond that, I don’t think it plays too much into it, to be honest. I think that everyone was really encouraged by the results and it was really good to get my 450 career started off on a positive foot. We communicated well with each other that day and it was nice to have a team win, a nice morale boost. But beyond that, we know that it’s a little different when you get to January and the season.”
A product of Kawasaki’s development program, from the Team Green amateur program to Mitch Payton’s Pro Circuit squad in the 250 class to his current role in the factory effort, Cianciarulo has been surrounded by many of the same people for all much of his life. That, plus extended time in Southern California during the preseason with the staff assigned to Cianciarulo’s side of the pit area (mechanic Justin Shantie and crew chief Oscar Wirdeman), helped make it an easy move. “I think being around the team as much as possible, seeing how we communicate and getting to know them as much as I can. I’ve known Justin for a while, because he was Joey’s guy at Pro Circuit and I’ve known the Kawasaki guys since I was eight or nine years old, so the transition was smooth,” shared AC. “I’ve been fortunate to be around good people with a really organized program from a young age. I think this is just another step in that direction, like me having a crew chief for the first time in my career is pretty cool for me. Oscar has been great to work with. I funnel the information about the bike or what I’m feeling to Oscar and he coordinates it with everyone else, like my mechanic Justin, the suspension department, the motor department. For me, it’s about limiting the amount of information and the people that I have to talk to, it makes everything simpler, which really adds up in the long run. It’s obviously a long season and I have yet to go through it, but I can already see that it’s a little bit more of a streamlined process.”
That clear line of communication helped in the early part of the offseason, as Cianciarulo admitted that changes to his riding style were necessary to make the most of the more powerful engine and developed suspension. “The first couple of weeks, I would say I was riding the bike a little too much in first gear. You can pretty much ride the thing in first gear all over the track and go decently fast, other than the whoops. Because the gears are so much longer, it’s a little bit tougher to figure out what to do with the power. Once I got that down, it took me about two or three weeks, but after that, it’s been a steady incline of progress. I feel like every month I’m a little more comfortable and a little bit better,” he noted. “Getting the gearing right and all of that stuff, you have to ride it a little bit different, but you can’t lose what makes you ‘you,’ what separates you from the rest. You have to keep that special part of your style, even though you have to ride the bike a little differently, and I think it was figuring that out.”
Getting a feel for the bike in race conditions proved to be one of the big perks of the Monster Energy Cup, and it’s something Cianciarulo paid close attention to in his single offseason event. “I think at Monster Cup, going through the process, I felt like the bike was pretty decent then, and we’ve made a lot of positive changes since. I’d say we’re 50-percent stiffer than we were at Monster Cup, which it needs to be because the tracks are going to be different,” he shared of the bike’s ongoing development. “It’s a long season and the difference between the 250 class and the 450 class is the emphasis on bike setup and how much it makes a difference. I’ve known that fact since I was probably 10 or 11, just being around all of the guys, but going through it myself for the first time and understanding how important it is, I think the guys I am working with have done a great job educating me.”
The history that Cianciarulo and Kawasaki share cannot be overstated. They stood by him after the amateur and early pro successes were marred by a series of injuries, puberty, and hit-miss results, which has made the current situation that much more special. It’s not lost on Cianciarulo. “In the past, there’s something weird about me from a young age that just felt like I knew this is what I was going to do, there was no doubt for me. When I was with Kawasaki, when I was 10 or 11, doing well as an amateur, I just felt like that’s where I belonged,” he shared. “I wanted to be there and after being around Villopoto and Weimer, two guys riding for factory Kawasaki, I felt like I was destined for it. There were some rough moments there where I questioned if I deserved it and wasn’t sure that I was worthy, and this last year for many reasons was a pressure cooker of a year. I really did need to prove that I was worth their investment and time. Obviously, it’s a dream come true for them to give me a shot and having that bike sitting under the semi, with a single-digit number, feels like a dream.”
With that said, it comes as a bit of a surprise to learn that Cianciarulo’s Monster Energy Kawasaki contract is only for one year. That they had reached an agreement was known common knowledge in the summer, but many incorrectly assumed was part of the long-term plan the company had for the rider. Cianciarulo was careful when he explained that the contract is a one-year deal with a mutual option but made it clear that a potential extension is not his biggest motivation and that he wants to prove his worth at every opportunity. “Putting me in this position, where I am betting on myself, I like that position and it really doesn’t weigh too much on me. I have had a lot of pressure, whether it was real or pressure that I put on myself since I was a very young age and this is no different,” he expressed. “Regardless, I’m going to do everything I possibly can, whether I had a three-million-dollar contract sitting in front of me or I was riding for free. That’s not going to change my results.”
When the lights go out at Angel Stadium this Saturday night, we’ll all stop to watch the montage of Cianciarulo’s career when it plays on the big screen, and then see him illuminated on the stadium floor by spotlights and lasers. It’s a moment more than a decade in the making and Cianciarulo knows he will be an object of attention throughout the night, no matter the outcome. “I am very fortunate to have a great fanbase and lately a lot of people really want to see me do well, and I appreciate that more than anything. I’m the exciting rookie, coming into the new class, and I think I have always had this aurora around me that people want to see how I do. Whether bad or good, it’s always a topic of conversation and that’s super flattering for me. I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he boasts. But in the same breath, his unpretentious demeanor comes through and reaffirms the expectations for the single night and the season as a whole. “But sometimes I’m cautious not to overplay it. I understand that I’m talked about quite a bit, and I don’t mean that in a cocky way in the slightest bit. There are a lot of people out there that are talked about more than I am. I just try to be as modest as I can and at a certain point, you have to let the riding and racing do the talking. There’s a lot of hype for me this year and it’s been about me focusing, doing everything that I can, and locking in.”
