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By Riccardo Tafà| Posted March 13, 2016 | In MotoGP, Sport News
The Monster Yamaha Tech3 pairing of Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro look towards the highly anticipated season opener at Qatar fully confident as they intend to kick off their 2016 campaigns with two solid results. Tech3 riders all set for Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar opening battle .
The FP1 fight begins at 19:55 local time on Thursday, with both Tech3 riders determined to battle to strong finishes in Sunday’s race at the first of the 18 rounds. Bradley Smith will aim to hit the ground running as he aims to follow up his positive efforts in the pre season with a strong finish. Whilst Pol Espargaro will be gunning to be right in the mix with his teammate for a top six result in order to get his third year with the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team off to a solid start.
Bradley Smith – 2016“The winter months have passed, so now it’s finally time to switch on to race mode and get ready for the first GP of 2016, which I am very excited about. We’ve had a really constructive off-season, which kicked off in Malaysia and despite the tricky weather there, as well as later again at Phillip Island, I feel we completed a lot of valuable work. This is just what we needed before the start of what will be a very competitive year. I intend to continue from where I left off last season, but I am under no illusions that it will be any less competitive than last year. Still, we have taken every necessary step to be prepared and I’m feeling optimistic about my chances. This GP is always unusual due to it being at night and also over four days, but I am confident of starting strongly in FP1 and then go from there. It will great to be back racing again and I can’t wait to get going.”
Pol Espargaro – 2016“Finally, the winter is over and we can get back to doing what we love to do best – MotoGP! I am more determined than ever about this year and it will be a very important season for me as a rider. I’m happy to be part of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team once again and I intend to make everyone proud in 2016 after the difficulties that we had to face last year. The winter tests were a bit different this time because we had to adjust to our updated Yamaha YZR- M1 but also get used to the Michelin tyres and the new electronics. However, I am feeling confident about all of these aspects after the thorough job the team and I did in February and earlier this month. Although the bike is not quite 100%, we are close and I am particularly confident of our race setup this year so I’m sure I can fight to some strong results. I will give my all at the first GP to start the season with a positive finish. The time has come and I’m ready for the contest.”
Hervé Poncharal – Team manager : “The long wait is finally over, and in just a few days, the new season will begin. This year, there will surely be another amazing 18 rounds of racing. With regards to Bradley and Pol, they both put the hours in during the winter tests and walked away having made some really big steps forward. The guys are prepared and we are excited to see what they can do this year and we are behind them all the way. Bradley will be intending to continue his impressive record from 2015. For sure, this season will be more competitive, but I think Brad can do it and his brilliant form from last year shows that he means business. As for Pol, he has performed well over the winter and he has done a lot of hard work with his side of the garage. As a result, he is feeling confident and determined for this year, with his ambition being to fight for the leading satellite position, which he won in 2014 in his debut year in the class. Both riders will aim to get the ball rolling and start the GP weekend very strongly, which should set them up nicely for the race under the floodlights. We are all as excited as the fans, and ready to get the show on the road”.
COMMERCIAL BANK GRAND PRIX OF QATAR 20 MARCH 2016
TRACK DATA
Pole position : Left Length : 5.380 m
Width : 12 m Corners : 16 (10 right, 6 left)
Longest Straight 1.068 m Constructed 2004
CIRCUIT LOCATION Losail International Circuit is located approx. 30 km from Doha International Airport and approx. 20 km from Doha City Centre. GPS Circuit Entrance: 25°28’59.09″N, 51°27’22.89″E HISTORY Losail International Circuit (also Lusail International Circuit) is a motor racing circuit located just outside in the town of Lusail, north of Doha, Qatar. Built in just under a year by 1,000 workers at the cost of $US 58 million, the track opened in 2004 to the inaugural Marlboro Grand Prix of Qatar, won by Sete Gibernau. In addition the circuit hosted the 2006 Grand Prix Masters of Qatar won by Nigel Mansell.
The track is 5.380 km in length, with a main straight of just over a kilometre at 1,068 metres. It is surrounded by artificial grass to stop the sand encroaching on the track. It happens to be somewhat similar to the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir. In 2007, Losail added permanent outdoor lighting for night races. At the time, the lighting of the Losail Circuit by Musco Lighting was the largest permanent venue sports lighting project in the world, a distinction that now belongs to another Gulf motorsport venue, Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The first night race in MotoGP history was the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar in March 2008.
YAMAHA PRESS RELEASE
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.
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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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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