Features 6 Jun 2012

Privateer Profile: Adam Monea

MotoOnline.com.au gets an insightful view into Adam Monea's past and present career.

Zero Seven Motorsports racer Adam Monea surprised many last year when he came out of a two-year hiatus to return to the sport for the 2011 Super X series.

After his fourth overall in the Pro Lites class, Monea has chalked up consistent, front-running results in the 2012 Monster Energy MX Nationals. But this time it’s different. His cocky attitude had undergone a massive overhaul, and the 23-year-old has confronted his challenges with a renewed vigour.

The past five years have seen the Koo Wee Rup kid rise to the top of the pack under the former Cool Air Kawasaki tent, then battle a knee injury… before his bad-attitude turkeys came back to roost when he found himself without a ride in 2009.

“I was young and dumb, and I had a bad attitude,” Monea reflects frankly. “I thought because I’d already spent time with a top team I knew everything and racing would be that easy all the time. It’s not like that at all and it was a big learning curve for me. 2009 was a crap year for me and it led nowhere. I wasn’t having fun, I was in a bad place in my head, and my results reflected that.

“Because of that I didn’t get offered another ride, and if I’m going to be honest, I didn’t deserve one.”

“Everyone around me has a smile on their dial, myself included, and I think that has made all the difference.” Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.

With no other option, Monea was forced to enter the workforce as a concreter with his brothers. The early mornings, long days and hard work were a huge reality check for Lil Monz and it didn’t take him long to realise just how good he’d had it.

After two years pushing concrete, Adam quit his job last year to help his older brother Mark out at Summer X Games 18. When Mark wasn’t practising his Carry On trick Adam took his freestyle bike to Pala and cut some laps.

“I did a couple of rides out there with the cut-out airbox and high bars and a few of the big-named boys started asking Mark ‘dude, does your brother race back home? He can ride’. It made me think that if those guys are saying that with me riding a freestyle bike, maybe I can give it another go.”

The seed was planted, and as soon as he returned to Australia Monea put his plan into action. He rang Andrew Hopson at Axis Motorsport and soon enough he’d secured a cautious ride with the Zero Seven Motosports team.

Adam Monea has big dreams of heading overseas to race his motorcycle. Image: Simon Makker/Makkreative.com.au.

“There was a lot of talk at the time, like ‘don’t hire Monea – he’s hard work’, but I’m really glad someone has given me a second chance and the opportunity to prove my attitude has changed, and that I really want this now,” Monea admits.

“Before I couldn’t tell the difference between confidence and arrogance, and if I thought I was doing the right thing, everyone else could jam it; there are a couple of riders out there now with that attitude and I have a bit of a laugh under my breath because I’ve realised it doesn’t get you very far.”

Now, with a renewed enthusiasm and a renewed, positive outlook on the sport, Monea is back: after effectively leaving the couch to finish the Super X in fourth overall, Monz clinched his first outdoors win since 2008 when he took the checkers at Wanneroo, WA in one of the three races. It signalled his new attitude and work ethic is doing the trick.

“Everyone around me has a smile on their dial, myself included, and I think that has made all the difference,” he grins. “It doesn’t matter if I have a bad race now. I’m loving every moment of being back racing and I’m really keen to make the most of this second chance.

“I’ve got a few goals I’ve set myself as far as racing overseas goes, and I’m going to do everything I can to reach those goals. If I can do that you won’t be able to wipe the smile off my face.”

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