Andrea Adamo may have won his home Grand Prix in Italy, but the former MX2 world champion wasn’t entirely happy as he crossed the finish line. Despite delivering a third straight podium and another emotional victory on Italian soil, Adamo was left fuming about backmarkers interfering with the lead battle—especially in both motos when it mattered most. His frustration was clear to see in the post race press conference, calling for stronger action and penalties for lapped riders who ignore blue flags.
“No, it’s super. To have our own GP is really nice, and to win also is really amazing. I put here the crowd every lap, so that was really good.”
The home fans had plenty to cheer about, and Adamo admitted that their energy helped push him through the weekend. While the overall result was a success, the path to victory wasn’t without its challenges—particularly when it came to dealing with traffic.
“About my weekend it was ok. I won, so that’s the most important thing, but I could have done better. For sure, in the first moto, I came into traffic in the last lap, and then Kay overtook me, which was really hard for me.”
He elaborated further on the difficulties, pointing to a frustrating situation where the backmarkers influenced the race outcome.
“It was quite difficult, because Camden (McLellan) was 5 seconds in front, and then the lappers thought nobody was coming, but then I was again the first one to meet them. They moved over a little bit more for him and then he (De Wolf) overtook me. In the second moto, I did again pretty good starts. I was there, waiting to overtake Sascha, but then he crashed, so I went into the lead.”
Despite the setbacks, he remained composed and focused in the second race, building his pace and fighting hard right to the end.
“It was a good moto. I did good laps, I built slowly, and I got to Thibault, which was around 4 seconds. But again, in the last two laps, I came into traffic, and Thibaut closed the gap, and he passed me.”
Although he knew the overall victory was still his, the competitor in him wasn’t satisfied with settling for second in that moto.
“I knew it was fine for the overall, but for sure I wanted to win. It’s a bummer, because between top riders there is a lot of respect. I respect a lot Kay, Thibault, Simon.”
While there’s mutual respect at the front of the field, Adamo made it clear that the same can’t always be said for riders further down the order.
“Between top riders there is a lot of respect, but sometimes from 15th to 25th, 20th, 30th, whatever, they don’t have respect. When you see blue flags, I don’t know, go out of the track, do something, because somebody is coming. To finish 24th or 25th, it’s anyway zero points, but to finish first or second or third, there is points difference.”
The Italian called for stricter rules for riders who ignore blue flags.
“It’s a bummer. I’m talking like this just because I’m a little bit mad, because like there is rules for yellow flags, for stopping on the track in timed practice and stuff like this, I think there should be one rule also for flagged riders that don’t move. I don’t know, 500 euro, 300 euro, whatever. Let’s do something, because we are fighting for championship, and three points, many people say, yeah, it’s only three points. Three today, three tomorrow, and three the next weekend, it’s already nine, so…”
Despite the emotions, he still left the track with a smile and another solid result to add to his streak.
“Anyway, I’m super happy about my weekend, and it’s third podium in a row, the last three years I had two wins, so I’m really happy about it.”
Reflecting further on the weekend, Adamo acknowledged a costly mistake in the qualifying race that could have changed things dramatically.
“I feel good, like I said, it’s really super to win a GP in Italy, and I think for an Italian, or Dutch, or French, there is no better thing to win a GP at home, so it’s really nice. But like I said, I’m a little bit disappointed. In the qualifying race, I had a crash on the first lap, and then I was completely in the back, and it was not easy to find a way to pass, and I finished out of the point, and that’s a mistake that you cannot do.”
Fortunately, a solid gate pick was still possible, and he made it count—though he knows he can’t afford too many errors with such stiff competition.
“I was lucky that, this is, let’s say on the start, that there is 20 good gates, so you can find a way to start good if you do it properly, but I cannot do these mistakes, because the guys next to me, actually both, and some other ones are fast, and it’s not easy to win, it’s not that you wake up in the morning and say, OK, today I’m going to gain 10 points. You need to fight hard for that.”
In the end, the home win was the perfect reward—for both Adamo and the fans.
“So, like I said, I’m super happy, a little bit disappointed, but anyway, we go home with a GP win, and it was important to give the crowd what they deserve, and what they for sure wanted, I hope they wanted an Italian to win. So, but, no, I’m super happy.”
