ANDREA ADAMO: THE ITALIAN JOB.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Andrea Adamo embodies what the best Motocross experts call consistency. And this is the reason why his MX2 World Championship title is far from being usurped. Indeed, the top step of the podium at the end of the season doesn’t necessarily go to the rider with the most Grand Prix wins, but rather to the one who knows how to be consistent, proud and, above all courageous. A description that perfectly suits the idea that we can have of the Italian rider, when you see him enter the track. In terms of statistics, the NO.80 has won two GPs out of the 19 this season but the young man finished in the Top 3 on 10 occasions in 2023, and when he wasn’t on the podium, he did his utmost not to be outdone by his rivals at the front, often settling for Top 5. This hard work enabled him to score a total of 826 points, 67 ahead of his main rival Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Jago Geerts.
Speaking about his background, Andrea Adamo is from a Sicilian family of four children, whose parents chose to move to the continent to head to Bologna, when he was just 10 years old. The sound of the motorcycle was not initially what set the pace in his family’s life but, despite a very modest lifestyle, Andrea’s passion came to the forefront at the price of certain sacrifices as he declared after winning his MX2 World title in Maggiora: „My parents had normal jobs and it wasn’t always easy. So, I am so grateful! Now that I have reach my dream, I am super happy that everything they made for me paid off. My family is not a Motocross expert one, so they prefer to stay on the side and let me work, while they are always by my side to support me”.
Between 2015 and 2017, young Andrea made himself known in the MX world, competing in the Honda 150 European Championship with Pardi Racing Team. A competition he won in his final year, taking pole position in every round and winning seven of the heats that have been raced, before heading across the Atlantic Ocean for a year. Back from his time in the US, the Italian teamed up with Yamaha SM Action – M.C. Migliori in 2019, with whom he competed in the FIM EMX250 for two seasons. However, the results weren’t there yet, mainly due to a few injuries, while the confidence was there, and in 2021, Adamo officially began his MX2 career with the same team, but with a new name and a new bike supplied by GasGas: SM Action Racing Team. Fourteenth in the World Championship for his first year in the class, the rider finished 8th last year, scoring his first career GP podium in Italy, in the process.
His improvements caught the eye of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team, which decided to put its faith in the Italian rising star for 2023, replacing Tom Vialle, reigning MX2 World Champion at that time. A successful gamble for the Austrian company, but it took a lot of work to challenge predictions of this season, as the scenario of Andrea Adamo finishing World Champion in his first year with the team was not envisaged. And even less so at a time when the boy, overall leader for the first time at the Kegums Grand Prix, was losing his red plate to Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay de Wolf, who was determined to take his part in the Championship. But the change in the lead was only temporary, and Adamo regained it one GP later in Germany, never to leave it again. From then on, his second half of the season was dictated solely by the objective of retaining the red plate, which resulted in 2nd place in Lombok, 1st in Vantaa, 3rd in Uddevalla, Maggiora and Matterley Basin. Moreover, he never ranked outside the top 10 overall in a Grand Prix, his worst position this year being 7th in Lommel.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager Antonio Cairoli proudly said that „It’s amazing what Andrea has done this year. I know how hard it is to do that on your first Factory year. To keep the Red Plate is something that you only find in a real Champion. We are so proud of him, with a rider like him everything is easier“. From a managing point of view, the 9-time Motocross World Champion led Andrea Adamo and Liam Everts into the MX2 Top 5 this year, which is no small feat considering the competition.
Moving forward, the new MX2 World Champion knows that his opponents will be waiting for him next season. When you step into the big leagues, the hardest thing is to confirm your status. But that doesn’t seem to worry him too much. He knows he has what it takes to repeat that performance, and that is his intention, concluding „I have one Motocross World Title, my first one and want to fully enjoy this one. Then in the winter, I will start to think about the next one and do my best to be competitive in 2024“. The offseason will be long, but in the meantime, we’ll be able to see Andrea Adamo on the track one last time this year, at the 2023 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations in Ernée, with the Italian team made up of the KTM rider, Alberto Forato and Andrea Bonacorsi
2023 STATS
Grand Prix Wins: 2
Race Wins: 4
Pole Positions: 1
Podiums: 11
Text/Bild: Infront