Author: Riccardo Tafà
Riccardo Tafà is the founder and Managing Director of RTR Sports Marketing, the independent motorsport sponsorship agency he established in 1995. A law graduate of the University of Bologna, he began his career in PR in London before moving into motorsport, and has spent more than 30 years structuring sponsorship partnerships in Formula 1 and MotoGP - closing over 100 deals across eight championships with properties including McLaren, Williams, Ducati, Honda HRC, Yamaha Factory Racing and Dorna Sports. He writes on sponsorship strategy, commercial rights, pricing, and ROI measurement for brands entering motorsport at every budget level.
May 1, 2023
Why Sponsor Motorsport: 6 Reasons Backed by 2025-2026 Data
Why sponsor motorsport, in short: because it combines a young global fan base, a growing sponsorship market and long-term partnerships. F1 has 827 million fans (+12% on 2024) and MotoGP 632 m[...]
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May 1, 2023
How Much Does an F1 Car Cost? Estimates, the 2026 Cost Cap and Engine Costs
How much does an F1 car cost in brief: there is no official price, from the FIA or from the teams. Industry estimates for a 2026 car range from $15 to 22 million, and the power unit alone acc[...]
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April 28, 2023
Michael Schumacher: Career, Seven Titles, Records and Legacy in Formula 1
Michael Schumacher in short: born in Hürth on 3 January 1969, he won seven Formula 1 world titles (1994, 1995 and 2000-2004), 91 Grands Prix, 68 pole positions and 155 podiums in 306 races, [...]
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April 27, 2023
Gilles Villeneuve: Ferrari Career, Legendary Races and the Death at Zolder
Gilles Villeneuve in short: born in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, on 18 January 1950, he raced in Formula 1 from 1977 to 1982, almost always with Ferrari, winning 6 Grands Prix out of 67 [...]
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April 19, 2023
Experiential Sports Marketing in Motorsport: Formats, Examples and Measurement
Experiential sports marketing in motorsport, in short: it means letting fans live the brand at the circuit, at the brand’s own events or online, instead of just displaying a logo. The s[...]
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April 4, 2023
Sponsorship Values and Goals in Motorsport: How to Align Them with Team Culture
Sponsorship values and goals in motorsport, in short: a sponsorship holds only if the brand’s values match the team’s culture and the goals are measurable from the start. The risk[...]
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April 3, 2023
James Hunt: career, the 1976 title, rivalry with Lauda and death
James Hunt, born in Belmont, Surrey, on 29 August 1947 and died in Wimbledon, London, on 15 June 1993, was a British Formula 1 driver and 1976 world champion with McLaren. In 92 Grands Prix, [...]
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March 30, 2023
Sports Content Marketing in Motorsport: What Works for Brands in 2026
Sports content marketing in brief: it is stories built around a championship, a team or a driver, from documentary series to films, products and partnerships, that carry the brand where the l[...]
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March 27, 2023
Motorsport Sponsorship Proposal: What to Include and How to Write One in 2026
Motorsport sponsorship proposal in brief: it is the document that shows a company how a team, a driver or an event can reach its goals, not a brochure about the team. It contains the sponsor&[...]
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March 23, 2023
Kevin Schwantz: career, 1993 title, rivalry with Rainey and number 34
Kevin Schwantz (Houston, Texas, 19 June 1964) is a retired American rider and the 1993 500cc world champion with Suzuki. He won 25 grands prix, built his career on duels with Wayne Rainey, an[...]
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March 9, 2023
Casey Stoner: career, MotoGP titles, Rossi and retirement at 27
Casey Stoner (Southport, Queensland, 16 October 1985) is a retired Australian rider and two-time MotoGP world champion: in 2007 with Ducati and in 2011 with Honda. In seven seasons in the pre[...]
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March 3, 2023
Ronnie Peterson, the SuperSwede: career, helmet and Monza 1978
Ronnie Peterson (Örebro, 14 February 1944 – Milan, 11 September 1978), known as “SuperSwede”, was one of the fastest drivers in the history of Formula 1. In 123 Grands Prix[...]
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March 2, 2023
Ayrton Senna: career, titles, Imola and the legacy of the king of speed
Ayrton Senna (São Paulo, 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a three-time Formula 1 world champion, in 1988, 1990 and 1991. In 161 Grands Prix he took 41 wins, 65 pole positions, 80 podium[...]
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March 9, 2022
Main Sponsor, Front Sponsor and Minor Sponsor: a definition maze
Main Sponsor, Top Sponsor, Title Sponsor, Naming Sponsor, Official Sponsor, Front Sponsor, and Minor Sponsor: these are all types of sponsorship that fill up the Internet (and the newspap[...]
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February 9, 2022
The MotoGP Audience in 2025: Who Are the Fans and Where Do They Watch?
MotoGP’s Global Audience in 2025 Sponsoring MotoGP – whether the championship itself, a team, or an event – offers a wide range of advantages. For many companies, the most c[...]
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February 15, 2021
What are the fundamental obstacles of Motorsports Marketing?
Motorsport marketing refers to creating, developing, and implementing marketing programs based on motorsports, thus leveraging on the passion of a large worldwide audience (people once known [...]
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February 9, 2021
How to get the maximum ROI from your MotoGP Sponsorship.
There are several steps to follow in order to get the maximum ROI from any sponsorship program. MotoGP sponsorship is no exception and what follows can be applied to sponsorship at large. Obv[...]
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November 9, 2020
Sponsorship ROI: how it is actually measured
Only 37% of companies that invest in sponsorship have a standardised process for measuring it. The figure comes from the ANA, the US advertisers’ association, and nobody has published a[...]
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July 22, 2020
MotoGP: Riders or super heroes?
MotoGP: incredible accidents, very fast recovery. Riders or super heroes? The riders of the Motorcycle Racing World Championship have accustomed us to exploits that would also be hard to conc[...]
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March 13, 2020
Protecting a sponsorship from disruption: force majeure and clauses
Almost everyone treats sponsorship as buying space. That is why, when a race is cancelled or a rider is injured, they discover they bought a promise rather than a right. Updated September 202[...]
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