Are you willing to sponsor?
Are you ready to explore the transformative power of athlete sponsorship for your brand? Click here to learn more about how sponsorship can help brands grow and thrive in the exciting world of motorsports.
By Emanuele Venturoli| Posted January 11, 2016 | In Bikes, MotoGP
Dakar: Toby Price takes another victory in Dakar stage 8
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Toby Price on Monday resumed his Dakar Rally challenge in Argentina with another stage win as riders set out on the second half of this 9,000km epic. It was the Australian’s fourth stage victory so far in this edition and he now assumes the overall lead by a narrow two minutes 05 seconds margin over Portugal’s Paolo Goncalves.
Price’s win came immediately after the one rest day in Salta, but there are still many kilometers left to ride and race officials have promised difficult conditions and challenging navigation, particularly in the second half of the rally. He finished the stage in four hours 33 minutes and 14 seconds, giving him a five-minute 17-seconds lead over Goncalves. The stage went from Salta to Belén and gave riders the opportunity to test their skills in the sand dunes. Pablo Quintanilla was third, some six minutes 32 behind Price.
Price: “The first part started out on big open roads and I think we dropped a little bit of time there. But just getting through it was a pretty fast track so we were looking forward to the second part where it was going to get more technical and more difficult. We did pretty well in the sand dunes and we pushed through the navigation.”
The Australian cautiously confirmed that he was getting more comfortable and more confident with the navigation but underlined that there was still a long way to go to the finish at Rosario.
Holding at fourth place in the stage and now third in the overall standings is Slovak KTM rider Stefan Svitko, who is contesting his seventh Dakar and is aiming to improve on his overall fifth place last year.
It was also a good day for Price’s KTM factory teammate Antoine Meo of France, the winner of stage seven and the team rookie. Meo rose to the challenge of a difficult stage and finished eighth just under 11 minutes behind the leading time. He is now sixth overall.
Meo said he had been quite nervous to have the responsibility of opening the stage for the first time. “At first it was it was quite fast and I didn’t lose a lot of time, only about 35 seconds. In the second part I slowed down and tried to do good navigation and that was pretty good because I didn’t make a mistake. I’m learning a lot, I have to improve and keep going.”
Fellow KTM factory teammates and Spaniards Jordi Viladoms and Laia Sanz finished the stage in 17th and 18th place. Viladoms who fought off a fever last week said it had been a good day and a nice stage. “At the beginning I was trying to push but it is not possible to recover energy in just one day. I’m getting better but I need more time, and at the end I slowed down. There was soft sand and camel grass so it was difficult to ride.”
Sanz also said she was not in the best form on Monday: “It was not my best. When you don’t feel so good its better not to push because you can make mistakes and crash. But I’m happy I’m here, I didn’t miss any waypoints and I didn’t make mistakes. I slowed down, especially in the last part but the navigation was not so difficult and I hope tomorrow is going to be better.” Sanz is now overall 14th and Viladoms is 15th .
On Tuesday riders face another challenge, the first part of a second marathon stage where they must preserve energy, machinery and tires to last overnight and through to the end of Wednesday’s stage. They will overnight in an isolated bivouac without assistance from their teams. Organizers have promised significant challenges including almost all off-piste riding in vegetation-scattered dunes and on harder surfaces.
Stage 8: Salta – Belén
Total distance 766km: timed special 393km
Stage Results
1. Toby Price (AUS), KTM, 4 hours, 33 minutes 14 seconds
2. Paolo Goncalves (POR), Honda + 5 minutes 17 seconds
3. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI), Husqvarna + 6.32
4. Stefan Svitko (SVK), KTM, + 8.02
5. Kevin Benavides (ARG), Honda + 8.06
6. Helder Rodrigues (POR), Yamaha, + 9.09
7. Gerald Farres (ESP), KTM, + 10.47
8. Antoine Meo (FRA), KTM, + 10.50
9, Joan Pedrero (ESP), Sherco. + 11.08
10, Adrien Van Beveren (FRA), Yamaha + 15.07
Other KTM
11. Armand Monleon (ESP), KTM + 6.17
17. Jordi Viladoms (ESP), KTM, + 23.56
18. Laia Sanz (ESP), KTM, + 24.42
19. Ivan Cervantes (ESP), KTM + 28.28
Overall Standings after Stage 8
1. Price + 27 hours 28 minutes 56 seconds
2. Goncalves + 2 minute 05 seconds
3. Svitko + 14.14
4. Quintanilla + 21.26
5. Benavides + 25.55
6. Meo + 28.44
Other KTM
8. Farres + 37.32
14. Sanz + 1 hour 06.06
15. Viladoms + 1:14.43
16. Cervantes + 1:22.15
Emanuele Venturoli
A graduate in Public, Social and Political Communication from the University of Bologna, he has always been passionate about marketing, design and sport.
Similar category
The online platform where you can discover the latest trends, strategies and insights from the exciting world of sports marketing.
View our blog
October 14, 2018
Women and two wheels: a love story in progress
In some ways, we could call the victory of Ana Carrasco in the 2018 Supersport 300 Championship a revolutionary one. As the first time a woman has won an official two-wheel international cham[...]
Read More
May 15, 2016
MotoGP: Honda HRC renew with Pedrosa until end of 2018
Honda Racing Corporation is pleased to announce the renewal of its contract with Dani Pedrosa for an additional two years. Both parties are pleased to reach the agreement ahead of this weeken[...]
Read More
January 26, 2016
MotoGP: Valentino Rossi visits Indonesia for Yamaha Meeting
Today Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi was honoured for his major achievements as the face of Grand Prix racing during his appearance as a special guest of [...]
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 sponsorship or sports marketing 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. Sports 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
Sports 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 sports marketing and sports sponsorship agency like RTR has an objective, 360-degree picture of the scenario and can tell you what is really best for you: which sport, 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 sports 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 sports marketing project you need an agency that knows how to use sponsorship to engage the fanbase on the Web, 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 sports 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
Eurosport is truly delighted with its business relationship with Riccardo Tafà, who has become extremely popular, thanks to his detailed knowledge of the sports marketing sector and his highly diligent attitude to work.
Francois Ribeiro
Commercial Director
Passion and Expertise are the features that I have found in RTR since the very beginning. Serious and reliable professionals but also very helpful, nice and open-mind people, willing to listen and compare different ideas. All the values in which RTR believes make this agency a partner, not just a supplier, a partner with whom we have had the opportunity to achieve significant commercial results in term of success and image.
Luca Pacitto
Head of Communication
We have been working with RTR Sports Marketing for over 10 years. The objectives and the programmes of collaboration continue to be renewed and to grow with mutual satisfaction. I believe RTR is a team of great professionals led by Riccardo Tafà, who I consider a manager of exceptional skills and with a great passion for his work.
Lucio Cecchinello
Team Principal
I have known and worked with Riccardo Tafà since 1995 when we collaborated for the first time on a project for the Williams Formula 1 team. Several clients followed. After leaving Williams to work for Gerhard Berger then owner of the Toro Rosso F1 Team, I turned again to Riccardo to seek his help in finding a tool supplier for the team and Riccardo duly obliged with an introduction to USAG, a partnership with Toro Rosso which endured for five years. I recently started a new role as Group Commercial Director for the renowned Andretti Autosport organisation and I find myself working with Riccardo once again on a number of interesting projects. Why has this relationship with Riccardo endured ? He’s smart, knows the commercial side of sport inside out and back to front and he’s honest and trustworthy. Riccardo Tafà is a “doer” not a “talker”: in over 20 years I have never had a dispute either with him or with a company that he has introduced and each partnership introduced by Riccardo has delivered quantifiable ROI to rights holder and sponsor alike. I can think of no better testimonial of Riccardo’s diligence, knowledge, contact base and hard work than that.
Jim Wright
Group Commercial Director
Recent posts
The online platform where you can discover the latest trends, strategies and insights from the exciting world of sports marketing.
View our blog
April 14, 2025
MotoGP and brand tech: why technology loves speed
A natural marriage: technology and MotoGP MotoGP is not just about speed, borderline overtaking and adrenaline. It is also one of the most advanced technological platforms in the world. Every[...]
Read More
April 8, 2025
Sponsorship vs endorsement: differences and examples
Sponsorship and endorsement are two marketing strategies designed to boost brand awareness and drive consumer engagement by leveraging different types of partnerships. While sponsorship build[...]
Read More
April 4, 2025
Prime Video Sponsors Kyle Larson’s “Double” Ambition
Amazon Prime Video is making a bold statement in the world of motorsport sponsorship by stepping in as the presenting sponsor for Kyle Larson’s unprecedented attempt to conquer two of a[...]
Read More