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By Riccardo Tafà| Posted May 22, 2016 | In MotoGP, MotoGP
Gran Premio d’Italia MotoGP 2016 : second place for Marquez
Magnificent second place for Marquez after intense battle with Lorenzo, Pedrosa just off the podium. Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa both had strong showings at the exciting Gran Premio d’Italia 2016, where they finished the race a fraction of a second away from victory and a podium finish, respectively, at Mugello.
After starting from the second row, Marc Marquez completed the first lap in fourth position and moved to third on lap three, managing to keep the gap from Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi to less than a second. After Rossi retired from the race on lap eight, Marquez steadily made up ground on Lorenzo, with whom he engaged in a spectacular duel for victory on the final lap. Despite exiting the last corner with the lead, Marc lost the final rush to the line by a mere 19 thousandths of a second.
Dani celebrated his 250th GP start with a very strong performance. Seventh at the end of the first lap, he was able to put in a series of good laps and match the pace of the leading riders, recovering positions to arrive at a fight for third position with Andrea Iannone. Dani set his best time, just 0.047 seconds off the race’s fastest lap, on his final lap, and finally settled for fourth, only 168 thousandths of a second behind the Italian.
The next GP is scheduled to take place June 3-5 in Barcelona.
Marc Marquez
“Today we made a good race, we managed to get very close, and finally we made the podium which is always positive, but even with the slipstream I wasn’t able to overtake Jorge. We struggled throughout the weekend with acceleration and top speed. I tried to give my all and I did the best race I could do today, I really tried everything. I took several risks in an attempt to win, but on the home straight Jorge slipstreamed me. Now we have to keep working on acceleration because we’re still lacking a little in that regard. Honda is working hard back in Japan, as we do at the tracks and we’ll try to take a step forward ahead of the next race.”
Dani Pedrosa
“It was a better race than the last few we’ve had. The start was demanding, and with a full tank of fuel I lost some ground. However, my pace wasn’t bad and I was able to make back several positions while also taking advantage of mistakes by other riders. I managed to stick with Iannone and increase my pace to try to fight for third position, even if he was a little faster. I followed him, but it was difficult to overtake because he was very fast on the straight and it was hard to get even with him. We learned a lot about our bike in this race, so we’ll try to work on it to take a step forward in the future.”
Gran Premio d’Italia MotoGP 2016: results session
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Time/Gap
1 LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA 25 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 41’36.535
2 MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA 20 Repsol Honda Team 0.019
3 IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA 16 Ducati Team 4.742
4 PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA 13 Repsol Honda Team 4.910
5 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA 11 Ducati Team 6.256
6 VINALES Maverick 25 SPA 10 Team Suzuki Ecstar 8.670
7 SMITH Bradley 38 GBR 9 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 13.340
8 PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA 8 Octo Pramac Racing 14.598
9 ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA 7 Team Suzuki Ecstar 18.643
10 PIRRO Michele 51 ITA 6 Ducati Team 22.298
11 CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR 5 LCR Honda 27.936
12 BARBERA Hector 8 SPA 4 Avintia Racing 35.712
13 LAVERTY Eugene 50 IRE 3 Aspar MotoGP Team 38.032
14 BRADL Stefan 6 GER 2 Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 40.094
15 ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA 1 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 59.811
16 HERNANDEZ Yonny 68 COL 0 Aspar MotoGP Team 1’04.397
17 ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA 0 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 15 laps
18 REDDING Scott 45 GBR 0 Octo Pramac Racing 15 laps
19 MILLER Jack 43 AUS 0 Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS DNF 1st lap
20 BAUTISTA
Alvaro 19 SPA 0 Aprilia Racing Team Gresini DNF 1st lap
21 BAZ Loris 76 FRA 0 Avintia Racing DNF 1st lap
Pos. Team Points
1 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 193
2 Repsol Honda Team 171
3 Team Suzuki Ecstar 108
4 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 77
5 Ducati Team 75
6 Avintia Racing 51
7 Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 46
8 Aspar MotoGP Team 39
9 Octo Pramac Racing 33
10 Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS 13
11 LCR Honda 10
Constructor Standings
Pos. Team Points
1 Yamaha 140
2 Honda 115
3 Ducati 83
4 Suzuki 65
5 Aprilia 29
REPSOL HONDA TEAM PRESS RELEASE
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 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
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