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 Silvia Schweiger| Posted October 31, 2024 | In WEC
The 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) calendar has been officially unveiled, and will feature eight rounds that will take teams to four continents. The Autodromo di Imola has confirmed a four-year contract extension, while the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar will host both pre-season testing and the inaugural race.
The 2025 WEC season will open in Doha, Qatar, with the Prologue (pre-season testing) on Feb. 21-22, followed by the Qatar 1812km on Feb. 28, a race celebrating Qatar’s National Day. The presence of the championship in Qatar not only highlights the global expansion of the WEC, but also the strategic value of this region for motorsport. In late April, the second race will be held in Imola, which recently signed a multi-year contract that will keep the circuit on the calendar until 2028. To better accommodate the championship, the Imola Autodrome has planned significant improvements to its infrastructure, including new pits for teams.
The third round of the season is set for May 10 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, an event that has been a regular and important WEC event since 2012. This race, which has always been considered a sort of “dress rehearsal” for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, precedes the legendary French event that will take place June 14-15. The 24 Hours of Le Mans, now in its 93rd year, remains the highlight of the championship and continues to attract entries from more than 14 manufacturers.
The WEC will then fly to Brazil for the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo, to be held in mid-July at the Interlagos circuit. Then, in September, the championship will move to the United States for the Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, a round prized by fans and teams for its unique mix of American culture and endurance passion.
The penultimate round of the WEC will be held in Japan on September 28, with the historic 6 Hours of Fuji. Located at the foot of Mount Fuji, the Fuji International Speedway offers a spectacular setting and remains a key event for Asian audiences. The season will conclude, as usual, in Bahrain with the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain on November 8. There, the world champions will be crowned during an awards ceremony under the lights of the Bahrain International Circuit.
The 2025 edition marks a significant growth of the championship, with the inclusion of 14 manufacturers. With iconic stages and logistical innovations, the 2025 calendar confirms the importance of the WEC in the global motorsport landscape as well as a strong focus on sustainability.
Download the WEC 2025 calendar in PDF format here.
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.
Associate Director, Executive Marketing and Commercial at RTR Sports Marketing, a London-based sports marketing company specializing in motorsport for over 25 years. Without sports, life is boring
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Read MoreIn 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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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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