Italian talent, Andrea Adamo didn’t have a good start to his weekend in Lugo after not taking any points in the qualifying race. However, he was able to turn it around on race day to salvage a podium. The Red Bull KTM rider gave a detailed breakdown of his Grand Prix performance, reflecting on both the positives and areas he knows still need improvement.
“Actually, no, the races were completely different,” Adamo began, contrasting the two motos. “Race one was completely muddy. When I did the sighting lap, it was crazy because there were all the ruts from the European Championship but just full of water. So the start was pretty demanding and then I didn’t have the best start because yesterday I put myself in a really, really bad place.”
Having qualified poorly, Adamo’s start position left him with work to do in the opening moto.
“From time practice I had a really bad gate then I didn’t do the best start. I also crashed, I was also outside of the top ten, so also outside of the points. Zero was not for sure ideal after coming from the great 1-1-1 I did. So, it was not ideal to start the weekend like that.”
Despite a tough Saturday, Adamo remained focused and looked to make the most of Sunday.
“After the race it was like that so for today I just tried not to really change the mindset but try to capitalize on what I did yesterday and to do good starts. Overall it was good, my day was decent. The first moto was P5 and then I won the second one. So let’s say it was not so bad. But in general the weekend was not the best of course.”
Adamo has shown strong race pace on Sundays throughout the 2025 season but knows Saturdays are holding him back.
“I’m really happy about my motos this season. On Sunday I’m always there but it just needs to be better in the weekend in general. I cannot do every time P13 and P14 and then I always have to catch up. These guys are fast. Everybody does good starts and everybody has good bikes.”
He pointed to Agueda as a standout weekend, but admitted that replicating those conditions is tough.
“In Agueda I don’t want to say that I was lucky but you don’t so often start with one bike and a half in front. So in Agueda from P13 because there were also seven close, I could take the holeshot and do my race. It was super, I was completely clean. But today in the first moto I didn’t take the holeshot. All those guys are fast so you can do P5, P6, P4. But it’s not easy then to catch up to guys like Kay or the other guys.”
Looking back on his title-winning 2023 campaign, Adamo acknowledged what made the difference that year but does feel he has more speed and fitness this year.
“In 2023, I was not experienced and I was missing some speed, maybe some fitness sometimes. But one thing that I had really good in 2023 was consistency. I was always consistent. I think I didn’t have zero in all the season, maybe some qualifying races but I also don’t think.” (Note: Adamo scored 0 points in only two qualifying races – Indonesia and Turkey.) “My average finish was really good so I need to try to do the same this year because I have more speed and I have more fitness. But… Still, sometimes I do stupid things and I need to try to avoid that.”
Weather has also played a role this season, and Adamo is hoping for more stable, dry weekends.
“Actually, until now every time we have some rain, which always plays a big role. Okay, last week, luckily, we had rain because it was really good for me (laughs), but… But for sure, we need to… I hope that we don’t have rain. I hope for some dust because we can always add some water but when it’s too much, we cannot take it away from the track. So I hope for dry GP’s and then we’ll see.”
Adamo also touched on the complexity of being a top-level motocross rider. “
It’s difficult to be a complete rider. To have race craft, fitness, being smart and good starts. At the moment, I’m missing a little bit of speed in time practice. So, of course, every time for the qualifying race I’m not making my life really easy. Like I said, in Portugal, I was good off the starts from really far away but it cannot happen every weekend. I’m not the king of the holeshots like Jorge Prado always is so I need to be better and then I will for sure make my life a little bit more easy.”
With plenty of positives to build on and clear areas for improvement, Adamo remains a serious contender. If he can combine his Sunday race pace with stronger Saturdays, the Italian should remain in title contention.
