Page 32 - GRIT_75

ADAM CIANCIARULO
250 SX / 2ND
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> “Oh, so close,” would be the phrase that best describes Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo’s season. The young rider’s season has been led with those types of races. He has fought at the front of the pack and for race wins seemingly at every race during this series but albeit from crashes or unreal performances from other riders, that rst win of the season still evades him.
He picked up moto victories at a Triple Crown event but came up short of notching the overall victory. Despite the lack of wins, his nishes have been among the most consistent in his class and has him sitting second in the points standings. He has nished off the podium just three times with a fourth and two sevenths. He has done enough to stay alive in the title ght as he sits seventeen points down with two rounds to go.
Cianciarulo was a man on a mission in the morning qualifying sessions. The other riders could not match his pace and had to sit back and watch as he threw down the fastest lap time of the class. He was over a half second faster than points leader Aaron Plessinger and he was excited to use that speed to his advantage in the races.
Cianciarulo used his momentum from his dominating practice performance and translated it immedi- ately to the nights racing. He ripped the holeshot in his heat race and led a awless moto wire to wire. Shane McElrath kept him honest throughout the race but there was no doubt. He was red up after the win and exclaimed that it was time for him to go get that win. He was ready he said, and we would soon nd out if he could indeed pull off the perfect evening.
Cianciarulo would fail to replicate his perfect start from the heat race but he didn’t fair too poorly as
he emerged from the opening lap in fourth position. He saw the two guys he is battling with in points, teammate Joey Savatgy and Aaron Plessinger, ahead in rst and second and knew he had to make things happen quickly. He railed by McElrath to assume third and began mounting pressure on the leaders. He appeared to be the quickest of the bunch and slowly creeped up onto the rear wheel
of Plessinger. On lap six, he was able to make the pass and set his sights on Savatgy but that plan almost immediately got foiled by McElrath who caught back up and sent Cianciarulo back to third. This seemed to ignite an even bigger sense of urgency in Cianciarulo and he would re back and retake second just one lap later. The battle was lively, and he was trying to put it all behind him and attempted to pass Savatgy for the lead but both of them bobbled at the same time allowing McElrath to blitz the whoops right by both of them. Cianciarulo managed to maintain second place throughout all of that by passing Savatgy but the damage was done. McElrath found another gear and would not be caught the rest of the race. Cianciarulo would hold on to nish in the second-place position. He missed out on yet another win, but he did increase his title chances by closing the gap on Plessinger by four points. The gap is now thirteen with just one race to go and he will need his rst win on the season more than ever next weekend in Vegas.
32 GRITMOTO • APRIL 29, 2018