Catching Up with...Bobby Kiniry

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Photos by James Lissimore

Monster Energy/Cernic Kawasaki’s Bobby Kiniry is racing the CMRC nationals for the first time and discovering all that is cool about Canadian racing. The laid back atmosphere, the camaraderie among the racers and the (sometimes) beautiful scenery that surrounds our tracks. What Bobby didn’t count on was the one thing that he’s always been good at disappearing. That would be his starts, forced to work from the back most times, the friendly New Yorker is fourth in points but a ways back of the top three. We called him up to find out to get his thoughts on the season.

DMX: Bobby, how’s the season going for you right now?

Bobby Kiniry: It’s going pretty good, I’m in fourth and wish I was a bit higher but I can’t seem to get any starts or good luck go my way. Take last weekend for example, I was up there and passed (Colton) Facciotti on the first lap and we made contact and I broke my shifter off. The way practice was they cancelled it on Saturday and on Sunday we were just rolling around out there because it was so muddy. Obviously those guys had raced there before, I hadn’t jumped much in the moto. I pretty much had to pin it. I tried to get some time on the track and felt pretty good. Second moto, started last with (Paul) Carpenter and we worked our way through the pack and I ended up fourth, seems like no matter what I do, something bad happens. If I can get some starts and some luck, I feel like I can be up with Paul and those guys battling for the win.

You’re four rounds into the series, what are your thoughts on the Canadian series in general?

So far I like it a lot. It’s laid back for sure, it’s pretty mellow and a lot of fun. Those guys are on it, it’s like anywhere you know? People say ‘those guys aren’t fast’ but you know, you get them on their home turf and they pin it. We knew that going into the series, it’s been fun and everyones been really cool. No one has given us any crap or anything and the racing has been hard but clean. There’s the new tracks and all the travel that’s cool also.

Kiniry gets into the zone. It's weird to not see him up there because after Mike Alessi,he might be the best starter in moto.

What do you think of Canada in your limited time exploring up there?

The first two weeks it was cool, there was some really nice scenery and we were in the Rockies there, which was awesome.  It was really pretty, really beautiful, I got to check out some cool countryside that I’ve never seen before. Even last weekend, the green rolling hills was nice to look at. It was cool, towards where the track was sweet. The city was cool as well.

Have there been any riders that you’ve never heard of that have surprised you?

To be honest with you, I’ve heard of everyone up there because I always followed the series and checked out the results. Even the 250 guys, man they pin it and go pretty fast. They are all really consistent as well. Even the guys in our class, (Mitch) Cooke and (Tyler) Medaglia have been up front and are always there. No one really surprised me yet but back east maybe there will be some guys come up that I’ve never heard of.

Kiniry skies it out at Kamloops. Trust me, you Canadians haven't seen what he can do yet.

We have a bit of a break, what’s your plan before the series goes east?

Just more of the same really, I’m going to take a couple of days off and then start riding and training hard again. I’ll head down to Paul’s place and put my head down and try to get myself up on the podium. I need to work on my starts and its weird right now because my starts are always there and for whatever reason this year, they’re not. I have to work my butt off and get them where I need them to be.

You’ve been a pro for a few years now, how is the Monster Kawasaki team treating you?

As far that goes, it’s the best fit for me. I’m really comfortable around the guys, I like all the sponsors and I like the bike. There’s no problems there, the mechanics and the managers seem like they really want to be there and it’s not just a job to them y’know? It’s a really good fit and everyone is real cool, I’m learning the 450 class and hopefully I get to do this again with them. No one has said anything about my contract to me but I hope to come back with the same team, I need a job!

Kiniry tears up Edmonton on his Kawi 450F. If you're at a national, go up and talk to him, you'll see that he's one of the nicest guys out there.