Takahisa Fujinami has four months of experience in his new professional role as Team Manager of the Repsol Honda Team, with Toni Bou and Gabriel Marcelli as official riders.
After more than 25 seasons as an active professional driver, Fujinami’s arrival at the reins of the team is a breath of fresh air and great ideas to contribute based on his extensive experience. Advice that will be welcomed, especially by Marcelli, whose technical talent is beyond doubt, but can grow even more as a rider with the help of a manager like Fujinami: “He wants to improve to be a future world champion. With 26 years of experience in the World Championship, I think I can teach him how to learn to concentrate mentally to face the races. He has technique, now we just need to improve a little bit in some aspects.”
One of the most important milestones in these four months has been the X-Trial in Madrid, where the team achieved first and second position. A historic result for the team.
Now it’s time to prepare for the outdoor season, which will once again be short and intense as far as the calendar is concerned. In addition, Marcelli will be present this coming week at the Spanish Trial Championship held in Arteixo, A Coruña.
"Toni Bou is going to defend the TrialGP title, that's clear. And we hope that Gabriel can achieve the goal of finishing in the top three, and if he can win a race, so much the better! A double would be fantastic!"
FUJINAMI: "THERE'S LITTLE TO TEACH A 30-TIME CHAMPION"
Question: How have these four months been in your new role after hanging up your boots as a pilot?
Answer: In fact, I already knew how the team works, after twenty-five years here, I already know it quite well, I think. We also know how championships work, training, what the riders think… All this is knowledge that we already knew, but for me what is new is the organization of the whole team and the logistics, especially. You have to establish contact with the federations, with the promoters of the championships, with the sponsors… All this is still new to me, but little by little we are adapting.
Q: The first championship of the season, the X-Trial, has already started. What is your assessment after the first four races?
R: We already knew that Toni Bou would be very strong, but what we didn’t know was his performance with the new bike, with a larger displacement engine. I was riding it last season, during the pre-season we have improved it and the result has been very good: of the four races, Toni has won all of them and has only conceded one lap out of eight. We also knew that Gabriel has the level to be up there, as he showed in Madrid. In the first race, it was the nerves that betrayed him, and in Barcelona, he almost didn’t make it to the second round. He still has a lot to learn. I’ll try to teach him as much as I can. At the moment, the performance of the team’s two riders in the X-Trial is very good.
Q: As a former driver, perhaps the advice you can give to Gabriel Marcelli is more important than to Toni Bou, isn’t it?
R: What can you teach a 30-time world champion? Not much, very little, really. But Gabriel did. He wants to improve to be a future world champion. With 26 years of experience in the World Championship, I think I can teach him how to learn to concentrate mentally to face the races. It has technique, now we just need to improve a little some aspects.
FUJINAMI: "I HOPE MARCELLI FIGHTS TO WIN THE CET"
Q: You have commented on a technical aspect about the evolution of the bike. You have driven the new engine that Toni and Gabriel are now driving. Is the Montesa still evolving?
A: The main thing is that by still having to compete against the two-strokes, they have some advantages over the 4T, and we have to continue to evolve to be able to compete in a certain technical equality.
Q: The first championship of the season was the X-Trial, with some changes to the regulations. What do you think?
A: What we don’t agree with is the rider selection, I don’t think anyone understands that, because Gabriel Marcelli has been left out of the first race after being second last year in Barcelona and finishing fourth X-Trial in 2021. Otherwise, it’s pretty much like last year.
Q: The next race to be held is the start of the Spanish Trial Championship in Arteixo, where Marcelli will participate. Last year he won his first round in the top flight and finished third. What do you expect from him at the Nacional?
A: Last year I accompanied him to the last two races to also find out what the Spanish Championship was like and Gabriel won one and was third in the other. The CET is quite different to the Indoor and Outdoor World Championships, it is quite mental, too, as well as physical, with more zones and more race time. We hope that this year he can fight to be champion of Spain because he has the level.
Q: In just over a month the TrialGP World Championship will start in Spain. What do you think for the team outdoors?
A: Well, Toni is going to defend the title, that’s clear. And we hope that Gabriel can achieve the goal of finishing in the top three, and if he can win a race, so much the better! A double would be fantastic!
Q: The World Championship round in Japan was finally suspended, but the Spanish GP has been added in its place. How do you see the 2022 TrialGP calendar?
A: Almost all the races on this year’s calendar will be two-day, that means they will be very physical and you will have to be in shape because, in addition, we will have two races during the month of August and a lot of heat is expected. It will be a little different. Normally Japan was on the calendar, and because of COVID we can’t go, but this year the race in Spain was also missing. Finally we will start the World Cup in Spain and we like it a lot. We will have one or two races every month and that means we will have to be very focused and physically prepared.
Q: As a Japanese, how do you see there being no Japanese GP? You were the main lure for the fans to fill Motegi. Who’s going to fill Motegi next year?
A: Yes, it’s a shame that the last three years we haven’t been able to race at Motegi. And for me, having retired from the competition without being able to do it in front of my audience, is a thorn in my side. I hope I can do that as a manager, and I hope that the Japanese drivers will continue to compete as well. Also, don’t forget that we’re at Honda’s home, and it’s always an honour to be able to go racing there.
