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Marcelli feels the need for speed

Professional race-car driver Kyle Marcelli is the defending GT World Challenge series champion

Kyle Marcelli's return behind the wheel of a race-car was nothing like he imagined or hoped for.

The professional driver from Barrie was far from a real race track and instead nestled in at home in front of the screen and set for battle in the SRO America GT Rivals Esports Invitational.

One of 30 SRO real world drivers competing in the head-to-head simulated race at Laguna Seca Raceway, the result was, well, let's just say he's much better behind the wheel of an real race-car.

"I did terrible," Marcelli said with a laugh. "I can't wait to get back in the real deal. I'm not a gamer, apparently."

With the COVID-19 pandemic putting a screeching halt on everything, taking the sport online seemed like a fun idea. Marcelli broke out his simulation setup he had in storage for the last eight years and, eager to get behind a wheel of any kind, he took part in the online championship. It's modelled after the actual race tracks, drivers and cars in the real-life series.

Marcelli couldn't keep his Acura NSX GT3 car on the track and when he did put a lap together, he was still off the pace.

"I felt the nerves and the adrenalin, all that stuff you feel in the real deal. I felt that in the virtual world, so that was cool," the 30-year-old said. "But then the tricks to go fast I haven't figured it out. It takes some experience, some practice."

Normally, this is a time of year when the race schedule is really ramping up. Marcelli has already taken part in two events this year, racing in Daytona in January and then in Texas in March before the brakes were applied on all events by COVID-19.

"Fortunately, with my schedules there's been no cancelled races; they've just all been postponed and put on the back end of the schedule," said the defending GT World Challenge series champion. "At this point, we're running into November as where we would have wrapped up in October. It's almost an extended offseason.

"Things at this point should get started, we're thinking, at end of June," Marcelli added. 

For now, he knows containing the coronavirus is what's most important and that means staying home.

"We all didn't take this serious enough at the beginning and I think North America was guilty of just being late to the party, if you will, on this stay-at-home stuff," said Marcelli.

He remembers seeing the news about the virus in China while having breakfast in Daytona back in January.

"Now it's here and all over the world, but we were a little slow to react," Marcelli said. "Now that we are doing the right thing we have to keep doing that to get through this. I think, at minimum, it's a few months process. That's what we saw in China, anyways."

Marcelli's done what he can to stay motivated, doing his best to get workouts in at home.

The business side of the sport continues, doing things for sponsors and manufacturers with social media, making phone calls, sending emails, and doing marketing exercises.

He's also had some time to do some work on his new home.

"Fortunately, it was a bit of a blessing in disguise," he explains of the time off. "My wife (Amy) and I were just wrapping up a two-year build on a new home and there's still lots to be finished, so we're spending our time working on the house as much as we can.

"Some days you wonder what you should be doing. You feel a little bit lost. You want to be productive, you want to be motivated, but it's kind of like the world's on pause and you can't."

Everybody involved, from the manufacturer, to the team and to mechanics, are still working or doing the things that would typically be done during the offseason.

"At the end of the day, we're lucky to compete in motorsports and to drive race cars for a living," said Marcelli, who started racing Go-Karts at the age of 10 and debuted professionally 10 years later in the America Le Mans Series in 2010. "That's a blessing in its own, it's not a necessity. I don't know how the economy is going to respond in that sense when we do go back. Are people going to have the expendable income, if you will, to go to races and to buy tickets? I hope so.

"Are sponsors still going to be there and businesses that may have gone through a difficult time and spent their marketing dollars in motorsports are they still going to be there? I think we're going to see some repercussions of this once we do get back underway."

Marcelli has much to look forward to this season, including defending his GT World Challenge title.

"The competition is a little greater this year and that's a good thing," he said. "The more competition, the more cars the better. It's good for the sport."

He's also taking on a new role in his relationship with Honda Performance Development.

"I want to do well for them," Marcelli said. "At the end of the day, they need to sell cars and they're making a big push in motorsports right now. We're back with the same team and the same co-driver, so there's a lot of things that we had to learn last year that we already know this year and that gives us a head start.

"The long and the short of it is we've got a competitive package when it comes to the team and the drivers, and we're there to win."

For Marcelli, you're only as good as your last race. That means he's as hard on himself as anybody is and making sure when he does well the highs don't last too long.

"I do feel anytime I'm in the car, whether it's a warm-up session, a practice or qualifying race, that I need to perform," said Marcelli, who is on a one-year deal with the Racers Edge Motorsports team. "There's just not a lot of stability. You feel like someone else can take your spot just like that. In a roundabout way, I've been at a professional level for 10 years and I feel confident and mature. I still put a lot of pressure on myself when I'm in the car to perform."

That performance will have to wait until COVID-19 is contained.

"What I do is a dream come true, but it's not necessarily making the world go round," Marcelli said. "It's more of a pleasurable thing for people to enjoy. We can't get back behind the wheel soon enough, that's for sure."

"Strange times for everybody," he added. "We just want to hunker down and get through this, and back to reality."


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Gene Pereira

About the Author: Gene Pereira

An award-winning journalist, Gene is former sports editor of the Barrie Examiner and his byline has appeared in several newspapers. He is also the longtime colour analyst of the OHL Barrie Colts on Rogers TV
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