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Valentino Rossi claims Pole Position at season finale in Valencia
By Riccardo Tafà| Posted November 7, 2014 | In MotoGP, Motor Racing, Motorsports
By Riccardo Tafà| Posted November 7, 2014 | In MotoGP, Motor Racing, Motorsports
Valentino Rossi claims Pole Position at season finale in Valencia
Four years after his last Pole in Le Mans in 2010, Yamaha factory rider Valentino Rossi claims his 60th Pole Position at the last Grand Prix in Valencia. The „Doctor“ improved with every practice, but still was surprised himself, when seeing his result on the monitors around the track.
Behind a wide-smiling Rossi, a no less happier Andrea Iannone entered the Parc Fermé. The Pramac rider quickly set the best time, with no one being able to close up. Only his fellow countrymen managed to displace him on the last lap. Nevertheless, Iannone looked satisfied with his result. It’s the fifth front row start for him in his whole MotoGP career.
Last to complete the first row is Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa. Both Honda factory riders struggled through the session, with Pedrosa in sixth and Marc Márquez in seventh position. But whereas Pedrosa ended the qualifying without a mistake in third place, his teammate Márquez lost his front wheel and fell.
Luckily the world champion remained unhurt, but couldn’t but losing a few places. He was in second position, when he crashed and had to let his teammate Pedrosa, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo pass. Márquez finished the qualifying as fifth.
Second Yamaha factory rider Lorenzo seemed less satisfied after the qualifying session. He started well, but unfortunately the spaniard couldn’t just keep up with the rest. But even with a start from second row, Lorenzo will be more than motivated to take the vice-world champion title from his teammate Rossi.
Behind Lorenzo and Márquez, a third spaniard completes the second row. Yamaha Tech3 rider Pol Espargaró, who suffered a serious feet injury at the Malaysian Grand Prix two weeks ago, provided a strong performance and was rewarded with a good sixth place in front of his teammate Bradley Smith as seventh.
They are followed by Ducati factory riders Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso. Whereas Crutchlow started the session further up front in fifth position and unfortunately was passed back, Dovizioso kept struggling and therefor a ninth place was the only reachable goal.
LCR Honda rider Stefan Bradl had to compete in QP1 and, alongside Ducati test rider Michele Pirro, entered the second qualifying session. The german started very good, but weakened througout the session. Finally he was qualified as tenth, with Aleix Espargaró behind him in 11th place.
Michele Pirro was listed as 12th.
Riccardo Tafà
Managing Director for RTR Sports, Riccardo graduated in law at the University of Bologna. He began his career in London in PR, then started working in two and four-wheelers. A brief move to Monaco followed before returning to Italy. There he founded RTR, first a consulting firm and then a sports marketing company which, eventually, he moved back to London.
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Read MoreWhy choose RTR Sports Marketing
In an era where it is possible to get anywhere with a click, there is a strong temptation to approach teams and properties directly for sponsorship projects.
By doing so, we are convinced that we are shortening the value chain, saving time and money. However, these DYI methods are anything but risk-free and what initially appears to be a competitive advantage soon turns into a problem that is difficult to resolve. That’s why there are agencies. And this is why you should rely on us for your sponsorships.
Save time and money
When first approaching a motorsport sponsorship project, it is difficult to know immediately which stakeholders are correct, what the decision flow is, and what the right timelines are for each process. Motorsport is a very specialized field of action, and fitting effectively into its paths can take a lot of time and therefore money. We, on the other hand, know referents and spheres of action and know who to talk to, when and how. So you are also more effective.
The right information, the right choice
Motorsport is an immense passion, and for our heart colors we would be willing to do anything. But business is a different business, and it is important to make the best possible strategic decisions based on independent research, statistics and reliable data. A motorsport sponsorship agency like RTR has an objective, 360-degree picture of the scenario and can tell you what is really best for you: which racing series, which athlete, which team. This is because we possess a great deal of data and information on ratings, segmentation and attitudes. Because the numbers don’t lie. Never.
Activations are the beating heart
Activations are the real heart of motorsport sponsorship. Without them, there remains only a blank sticker on a motorcycle, car or uniform and no contact with the public, no emotional connection, no impact on the bottom line. Then how do you do it? It certainly won’t be the teams or the athletes who will help you leverage sponsorship and enjoy the many marketing rights you have paid for. To bring out the best in a motorsport marketing project, you need an agency that knows how to use sponsorship to engage the fanbase online, to reach out to Shopping Centers, to organize hospitality, to develop B2B and B2C opportunities, and to get “your” athletes in front of millions of potential consumers.
Objective measurements for a certain return
Would you ever go to the dealer who sold you the car and ask if the competitor’s car is better? No, of course. So, how do you expect to get firm measurements of the effectiveness of your sponsorship if you do not rely on someone super partes? At RTR, we have always worked with independent third-party agencies that allow us to know the return on any exposure of your brand on TV and in the media. In addition, we believe in calculating ROI as the ultimate measure of your success-so we can tell you for every penny you spend how much you are making.
Sit back, relax, we’ll take care of it
We have been involved in motorsport sponsorship and sports marketing for more than 15 years. We are consultants in the sense that our goal is to maximize your investment, but we are also an agency that manages the project from start to finish. We have been doing this since 1995 with passion and professionalism, following three principles that have become cornerstones of our business: independence, verticality and transparency.
I would like to highlight the fact that one of the qualities of RTR is its great ability to approach the sponsorship scenario strategically, together with its passionate attitude, its amazing enthusiasm for solving problems, and its high level of professionalism.
Gianluca Degliesposti
Executive Director Server&Storage EMEA
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