Image: Octopi Media.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo was left ‘a little frustrated’ from the 10th round of the season at Ford Field where he ultimately finished eighth after leading the opening lap of the 450SX final.

Aggravating his wrist in Arlington, Cianciarulo was sidelined until the ninth round of the 2023 season where he scored an emotive P6 in his return, starting he’d ‘never been so stoked’ for such a finish.

Building on that momentum, Cianciarulo qualified fourth quickest ahead of the night show in Detroit, less than half a second from pace-setter Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC). He took the checkered flag third in heat one, and launched to the lead in the early stages of the main event.

Cianciarulo was shuffled to second on lap two by Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and dropped to P6 on lap four. While pushing his way forward, the number nine crashed over the rutted step-on-step-off section, able to remount and conclude the race in eighth position.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m a little frustrated about my fall in the main event, but there are so many positives to focus on from the day that I know we’re making progress,” said Cianciarulo.

“This dirt was tricky to find comfort on, but I had a solid run in qualifying this morning and backed it up with a good ride in the heat race. In the main, I led some laps early and, once I settled in behind Kenny [Roczen], I was able to stay right there with those guys. Unfortunately, that one mistake cost me a few positions, but we’ll focus forward to Seattle and aim to tie it at all together.”

Despite not scoring any points in Arlington and Daytona while he was sidelined, Cianciarulo is ninth in the 450SX standings as the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Championship moves to Lumen Field, Seattle this Saturday for round 11.