The two-time trial champion of Catalonia born in Besalú

A Besalúa municipality of about 2,500 people, there is a two-time champion of Catalonia of trial Is called Marc Planella (2008), a quarter ofTHAT and next year he wants to do the technology high school, because he hopes to get a degree in computer engineering. “Who knows if I will be able to continue with the trial. Because if I have too much work, I will have to prioritize. Combining the two is fucked up. I can only train on the weekend and the nearest places to do it are half an hour from my house. I arrive at three, and in the afternoons, I have to do chores. He doesn’t give me anything more”, explains, with a mature speech, the pilot from Girona, who is clear that his studies come first. The trial is a hobby. “It’s to enjoy and that’s enough, because it’s very complicated to get to live there. We’ve talked about it with my family many times and we’re clear about it.”

To be just one hobby, however, the results are splendid. Planella won the Catalan championship in the years 2021 and 2022, in category Base i Open 125. Currently, he is competing in the Spanish championship in this specialty. Last year, in fact, he already won a test. It was in Camprodon, the venue. “I felt super happy. When they assured me it was a ‘that’s good, that’s good'”, he says. This year he has made a small jump, since until now he was competing in Terra 5 i ara a Cadet Copawith one Vertigo Nitro RS 2023. The passion, however, remains intact: “I have a great time on the motorcycle. Especially when things go the way I want them to.”

The first motorbike, at the age of 4

“My father and my uncle rode motorcycles, so I have always lived in this world. I remember asking, as a child, my father to take me for a spin and that’s where it all started. At the age of four I already had one of my own, electric, small.’ Keep the piece in the garage at home, as if it were the most valuable thing in a museum. Marc Planella has dreams. Especially, getting to compete in the six days ofScotland, “one of the toughest trials in the world”. One of his references – “besides family members, of course” – is Carlos Casasof Sant Esteve d’en Basknown as one of the ambassadors because he has participated thirty times.

Planella, in action / DDG

Concentration and mistakes

“The trial is not like football, where you can look for external culprits. If you fail it’s because you made a mistake. And I like that”, he says. Planella not only has talent, he also has character. “For what reason do you like me? Because it makes me depend on myself. I trust me, yes. I’m quite an individualist person, if I do everything I feel I have more control. And this sport is already that, because mainly it’s the bike and me. You have to be very focused. But you can’t dominate everything: within an area there are thousands of factors that can influence the final result”, he adds.

In the tests, the pilots have to go through ten zones, doing a couple of laps: three hours for the first, a short mandatory twenty-minute break and two hours for the second. “Making mistakes is easy, but accepting them costs a lot. Sometimes I see a clear step, I don’t take it, and I spend a long time wondering how I could have failed. But if you screw it up, you have to erase what happened to continue,” he reflects.

“It’s a mixture of physical and mental effort, although the head influences more than the body. There are many hours of work so that everything fits”, concludes the pilot from Girona, full of joy. “But when you feel it’s going well, it’s a pass”.

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2024-03-18 18:05:57
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