Image: Octopi Media.

Adam Cianciarulo’s tenth place finish in round seven of the 2021 Monster Energy Supercross championship has him looking to improve as the second half of the season approaches.

Multiple off-season surgeries for the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider hindered his ability to prepare coming into the 2021 Supercross season, including one just weeks before the season opener in Houston.

The time off hasn’t seemed to slow him much early on though, as he currently sits fourth in the 450SX class standings just shy of the halfway point in the season.

On Saturday at round seven, the first of two rounds at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Cianciarulo finished at the top of the timesheets in timed qualifying and seemed to be the man to beat coming into the night show.

“My day started well. I was fastest in qualifying aboard my KX450 and was feeling ready for a good night,” he recounted. “I took the momentum from qualifying into my heat race and came away with a solid third-place finish”

The speed he showed early in the day never came to fruition in the main event, with the 24-year-old hovering around 10th place all race long, where he’d eventually finish for the night.

“Come main event time I was feeling flat. I know I have more in me, but we have a lot of racing left. I have a great team supporting me and we’re going to figure this out; it’s only a matter of time.”

While he’s achieved solid results so far in his bid for the 2021 450SX title, finishing inside the top five in four out of the first seven races, he’s made it clear he’s dealing with some minor nagging injuries as he sits on the cusp of championship contention.

He’ll get another shot at the podium this Saturday in his home state of Florida, as the series returns to Camping World Stadium for round eight. The Kawasaki rider will then have a weekend off to recoup and prepare as the series takes a break before the second half of the season kicks off in Daytona on March 6th.