Gabriel Marcelli
It’s often quite strange how you come to know people in the world of motorcycle trials. When the 2016 FIM Trial World Championship series came to the UK, I had arranged to meet up with the Spanish Federation (RFME) team manager Albert Sole, with whom I had become good friends. We had arranged to view the world round venue at Tong near Leeds together, as he had come over earlier in the week with his team riders to get some practice time in at Back Cown quarry near Rochdale before the world round. While we were talking in the team transporter, I noticed a rider with a protective face mask on. I asked who it was and what had happened, Albert replied: “That’s one of the young riders we are coaching, he’s called Gabriel Marcelli; he had a bad crash and damaged his face, but he will be fine”. As I started to watch the young Marcelli, if I am 100% honest, I thought he was ‘just another’ rider who would go through the learning process and not progress much further in the sport. As we enter 2021, I could not have got the prediction more wrong as he has now become ‘The One’ of the next generation who have come along to challenge the superiority of the undisputed ‘King’ of trials Toni Bou, his childhood hero!
First, the crash; what happened?
The accident happened in 2015 when I was out training. I lost my grip on the handlebars, and my hands came off; it all happened so quick I could not protect my face, and I hit a rather solid rock head-on. The crash helmet was in place but I literally ‘face planted’ the rock, which did all the damage. Physically I was fine, but the front facial area took a big impact. As I was pretty young and physically fit when the accident happened, I made quite a speedy recovery.
Has it been five years since the accident?
It’s been a long road to recovery, and as you had obviously noticed in the beginning, I had to wear face protection to protect the damaged area and help with the healing process. Since the accident, I have been having regular surgery to repair the damage, step by step. Five years later, I am still having surgery, but I know there is light at the end of the tunnel as the fantastic surgeons finish their work to make me look good again!
Let’s rewind the clock.
I was born on 04/02/2000 in Galicia, Spain. When I was a child my father had two jobs, he was a bread delivery man in the mornings and in the afternoons he was working as a builder, but five years ago he decided to focus on baking the bread. During this period in his life, he was earning some decent money, so we could keep working and moving forward in trials. My parents got divorced when I was ten years old, and my mother started working as a massage therapist in Galicia.
When I was 17, we moved to Catalonia. My mother left her job and started working for a few different companies. I wasn’t earning any money, so she was the only one with income when we lived together. It wasn’t easy for us both, but luckily things are much better now as she is again living in Galicia, with my grandparents, and she’s way more relaxed.
I have a sister, Claudia, who is two years older than me. She was studying at university before working as an optometrist in a hospital.
How was school life?
I’ve always been a good student and enjoyed education, even when I struggled to fit it all in. I always tried to do my best because I find learning is something I really enjoy; that helped me a lot when I was studying.
Sport was my favourite subject, but I also loved history and psychology. I think history and languages are the most useful things you can learn from school because knowing what happened in the past can help you to decide what is better for you in the future. No matter what your city, country or culture, it’s always important to remember your heritage.
Language is something you use every day. It’s nice to be able to connect with people from around the world to broaden your outlook on life.
Psychology is something I always wanted to do. I would love to understand how the brain works; I find the subject matter very interesting.
I tried to study and train on the trials machine until I was 17, and then I finished Bachillerato. This is the post-16 stage of education in Spain, comparable to the A Levels/Higher in the UK, and it follows the ESO (compulsory stage of secondary education). I then had to decide if I wanted to go to the university or focus on a career in trials — it was a hard decision to make. It was hard for me to drop out of school and start working only in the trials world, but I have never regretted it. I am 100% sure that I made the correct decision!
Your introduction to motorcycle trials?
Speed and the desire to race was my first introduction to riding a motorcycle. Until I was nine, I mainly just playing and racing around on motocross and enduro machines. In 2009, my father gave me a 2004 80cc Beta trials machine — my first trials motorcycle. His friends had always told him that to understand how to ride a motorcycle, you must always start with trials. So, in reality, I got the need for speed out of my system first. As my father was not from a motorcycling background, it was hard at first. We had many places to ride in Galicia, but I was always on my own. I started to watch the top riders on videos and DVD such as Toni Bou and Albert Cabestany for inspiration. I wanted to be like them! Both my father and I enjoyed trials riding as a sport and, before the end of 2010, he gave me a 125cc Gas Gas for me to ride.
Now you were a real trials rider?
I loved riding the Gas Gas. It was the ideal machine for me to learn the ‘trade’ on in motorcycle trials. It was light, easy to ride and, at the time, very powerful. My riding began to improve. I started to have some good results, and soon the Spanish Federation asked me if I would like to join the team. My mother and father agreed it would be a good move for me if I wanted to progress into a trials-riding career.
How soon did you join the RFME Team?
In 2016, I moved with the support of the RFME (Spanish federation) into the FIM Trial2 World Championship on the four-stroke Montesa. It was my first time on a four-stroke, but, at such a young age, I soon adapted my riding. I knew though that this was the correct career path, to move to the team, as all I wanted to do was be like Toni Bou. Riding in a team was so much better, and I gained much more confidence because I had someone to speak to about any problems.
How difficult were the early years in the sport?
The first round of the 2016 world championship was at Cal Rosal in Spain. I was bursting with enthusiasm — maybe too much! It was quite an easy competition. I remained very focussed to arrive on the podium in third position. On day two, I rode way too tense and finished way down in 18th place; from hero to zero overnight — yes, it was to be a tough learning curve.
The first year in Trial2 was difficult as we were trying to compete on a minimal budget. It meant I could not complete a full season in the world championship. The long-haul trip to Japan was out of the question, which was the correct decision at the time. I also missed Germany. I came back into the championship in Andorra with no points-scoring rides; I was struggling.
With support from the team, I gave it my all in France to get back into points-scoring rides. Finding consistency was the key, and I finished the year 14th overall.
When did you start to believe you had a two-wheeled future?
In 2017, I moved from Galicia to Catalonia. My mother moved with me. My father stayed because he couldn’t leave his job. Most of my time would be spent training with the RFME team, but it was reassuring my mother was there supporting me. In truth, the whole RFME team is one big family. It certainly helped with morale if someone was having a bad ride or struggling to find their form. It was the first year of the qualifying and, for me, the chance to race.
A win at the 2017 opening round must have helped your confidence.
It was all change at the world rounds as we now had qualifying to determine our start positions the day after for the competition. As it happened, qualifying was not a problem as it helped me to concentrate more. The win at the opening round in Spain was good to get under the belt, but I was still too inconsistent with my results to challenge for the title. I won four rounds during the year with the eventual winner, Iwan Roberts, only one; his consistent points scoring gave him the world title as I finished second — so close, but so far!
2018 was about two people?
Yes, a huge fight for supremacy in Trial2 developed between the eventual winner, Matteo Grattarola from Italy, and Great Britain’s Toby Martyn. We were all riding the four-stroke Cota4RT, and it was action stations at every round. Matteo looked like he would walk away with the championship in the early rounds, but Toby came fighting back to take the fight to the final round in Italy. I was consistent but always just a few marks off the winning pace. What 2018 did though was to prepare me for 2019 — no one was going to stop me from winning the FIM Trial2 World Championship.
You then moved to the RG Trials Team in 2019?
The RG Trials Team had just missed the 2018 world title by the closest of margins with Great Britain’s Toby Martyn. I had watched Toby all year and how he dealt with the pressure of fighting for the title. I also noted the support he got from Rudi Geiser. Toby was such a young rider. Win or lose, Rudi was always there to support his rider; this was one of the deciding factors in my move to the team.
The team had a really good working relationship with Montesa. They supplied the machines and offered technical help if there was ever a problem. The whole team was very ‘corporate’ and in the same riding kit. Rudi invited his sponsors along, and his enthusiasm was almost dangerous at times. For 2019, I would be in the team with Francesc Moret and another English rider, the young Billy Green.
Was your winning year in Trial2 tough?
To win any championship, whether it is at world level or club level, requires commitment. I approached the series 100% focussed on what we needed to do. I knew that Italy’s Matteo Grattarola on the Beta would be hard to beat, such was his vast experience in the sport — many people forget that he had been a top-ten finisher in TrialGP before the move to Trial2. There is a big difference between wanting to win and winning; I was completely committed. I thoroughly enjoyed the winning year. I had put so much into this that it was a huge relief and a feeling of ‘job done’ when I eventually was declared the winner. I was also very happy for Rudi and the RG Trials Team.
Did Montesa supply any special parts for your machine?
My machines were standard production Montesa Cota 301 RR models. Naturally, the team added some aftermarket parts from the team’s sponsors such as S3 Parts, which made a good machine even better. We also spent time testing, which was something new to me. It was mostly about finding settings that suited me, and if we had a problem in certain areas of the machine performance or handling, we could look at this in detail. Once again, the standard suspension is excellent, but it needs fine-tuning to improve the rider’s performance and confidence. Any rider knows it’s the small changes that lead to the bigger picture — being comfortable on a machine is always a high priority to any rider. The closer you get to the top in any sport, the smaller the changes become.
Whose idea was it to move into TrialGP?
Win or lose in 2019, I agreed with Rudi that the time would be right to move to TrialGP; this was always the dream. It was a joint decision which we both hoped to benefit. For Rudi, it gave him the opportunity to explain to his sponsors that we were moving into the Formula One of motorcycle trials and be able to be in the position to ask for more support. The team had the Trial2 world title and, with it, we had newfound confidence as a team. Winning the world title meant as much to Rudi as it did to me, with the icing on the cake the Manufacturers’ World Championship title for Montesa. The twoman team of Toni Bou in TrialGP and me in Trial2 made us both ‘extra special’ world champions. Of all the moments in my career to date, the best one was when Toni Bou shook my hand to congratulate me — yes, my hero, Toni Bou!
Did you enjoy your first year in TrialGP?
Obviously, the COVID-19 situation made it a very different championship for everyone. It meant that the world championship would be shorter — just four rounds with eight pointsscoring days. It would also start much later in the year with the first round in France in September.
Everyone was very well prepared, having had all summer to practise. If I am honest, I tried too hard in France on both days, and yes, I was disappointed with myself — how could I try so hard and return disappointing results?
I arrived in Spain with a totally different mindset. I rode much calmer and remained more focussed, finishing in fourth on day one in the knowledge I could improve. On day two, I felt very confident, which was reflected in my riding.
Toni and Adam had their own fight at the front, but I finished just six marks behind Adam for third. The step onto the podium was a fantastic moment and just reward for Rudi and all the hard work that he has put into the team, we were very happy that night. Mentally knowing that you have made the podium in TrialGP is such a confidence booster.
Confidence
It was a mighty ‘High’ to get the results I had in Spain. We moved to Andorra with a very good feeling in the team hoping to carry my good form and confidence forward. It rained heavily on day one making for difficult riding, but fourth overall, it showed that Spain was not a ‘fluke’. On day two, again I tried too hard, and finishing eighth told its own story.
In Italy, it was quite an emotional weekend. Rudi announced he was retiring from the world trials paddock and that the team would be no more. I fully understand his decision, and, as always, I have the utmost respect for Rudi and always will have. The results were quite consistent in Italy with me making a mental note to myself ‘You can do better’. I finished my first year in TrialGP sixth overall and, if I am honest, it’s where I deserved to be.
How was the introduction to the FIM X-Trial championship?
I had always wanted to compete on the manmade hazards found at the indoor FIM X-Trial World Championship. I had my first ride as an invited rider at Bilbao and Granada in Spain in 2019. It was a totally new sensation and very intense, to say the least. The action happens very quickly; you have to be able to give your best in a short period of time — a quick blast of 100% riding. Believe me that riding in front of an indoor audience in the close spaces of a stadium, with the heat from the lights, certainly gets the adrenalin flowing!
In 2019, I finished eighth overall, which I was quite happy with as I had not contested the full series. It’s incredible how the top riders remain so calm and collected but when you look at the experience that both Toni Bou and Adam Raga have you can start to understand how they have been at the top of the sport, both indoor and outdoor, for so long. They have the mental ability to break down each of the hazards into smaller pieces and approach them all so in control and looking for every advantage.
You made it to the podium in 2020
Yes, in Budapest, Hungary; I was third. It was unbelievable. I was invited to be a ‘fixed’ rider for the 2020 championship, which was very good for my confidence. It meant the organisers had faith in my ability to compete with the very best indoor riders. I had already ridden at Reunion Island and Rennes in France before the close of 2019, so I was better prepared for the remaining rounds of the 2020 series.
In Budapest, I arrived feeling quietly confident and took each part of the night’s proceedings one step at a time. As the night went on, I just got better and better. Then, just a few weeks later, I had a reality check on just how much more work I had to do as I slipped down the order in Barcelona and the final round in Bilbao. With the championship cut short because of COVID-19, I had learnt so much.
Where will 2021 take you?
My mother returned to Galicia a year ago, and now I am living on my own with the James family who moved to Spain from Great Britain. Let’s see what 2021 brings!