INTERVIEW
ADAM CIANCIARULO
P90
Despite being
very new to
Supercross,
Cianciarulo
feels right at
home on the
Supercross
track, more so
he says than
on a motocross
track.
Unlike the start of his pro ca-
reer last year. Many were expect-
ing more from the rookie. But
Cianciarulo says it took time to
get his strength back after his
illness, plus he was also still ad-
justing to the pro ranks.
"I was obviously really weak
and I felt like I wasn't able to show
what I could really do, so to not
do so good in outdoors and then
to come in and win the first Su-
percross is huge," said Ciancia-
rulo of his drastic turnabout.
One of the keys to his Arling-
ton win was being able to ride the
Monster Energy Cup last October
and the year before in Las Vegas.
But last year's MEC race was his
first on a full-size motorcycle.
"It helped a lot being able to
ride the Monster Energy Cup,
just because it's a chance to
get off the gate for a Supercross
and to get that under my belt, so
it wasn't so nerve-wracking in
Dallas," said Cianciarulo. "I was
calm and I credit a lot of my suc-
cess at that race to my calmness.
My familiarization with the whole
process."
As a highly decorated ama-
teur, surely the pressure must be
enormous when you are called
the "next big thing" or touted as
being the next superstar of the
sport, however, Cianciarulo says
he's learned to cope with it.
"There's always pressure there
when you're winning races at
such an early age, but you get
used to the pressure," said Cian-
ciarulo. "Ultimately, I put more
pressure on myself. It's just the
pressure I put on myself to do
good, because I know I'm ca-
pable and I know my program is
good. I definitely put more pres-
sure on myself than anyone else
can put on me."
Despite spending most of his
