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 May 23, 2015 | In MotoGP, Sport News, Sport Sponsorship, Sports Marketing
In a shocking turn of events, Audi Sport ABT driver Lucas Di Grassi has been excluded from the results of the Berlin ePrix; the race where he took a dominant victory yesterday. The Brazilian had won the race by 8 seconds ahead of Jerome D’Ambrosio; who was subsequently promoted to 1st place.
FIA Scrutineers found after the race that Di Grassi’s car didn’t comply with the regulations regarding front wings. The front wing was found to have illegal internal metal reinforcing rods as well as sealed holes in the wing that there shouldn’t have been. Audi Sport ABT considered putting in an appeal against the decision, as they felt that there was no competitive advantage with the new wing and that the changes were made as a result of repairs. However, the team decided not to appeal ‘on the grounds of sportsmanship’.
The disqualification moves Lucas down from the race win to 20th place; meaning that his 25 championship points he gained are also wiped out. This also means that title rival Nelson Piquet Jr. now has the championship lead by 2 points ahead of Buemi, with Di Grassi now a further 8 points behind. Dragon Racing driver Jerome D’Ambrosio now inherits the race victory, his and the team’s first this year. It also moves his team-mate Loic Duval up into the top 3 behind Sebastien Buemi.
Lucas Di Grassi later tweeted, “They are trying to make me win this Championship in the hard mode. Don’t worry, we will be back to kick some Piquet and Buemi ass ON TRACK…” which insinuated that Di Grassi felt that the disqualification was unjust. newly promoted 2nd place finisher Buemi replied, “You deserved the win man! But don’t forget the bad luck the others had as well…”
2015 Berlin ePrix amended results:
POS | Driver | Team | Points | Grid |
1 | Jerome D’Ambrosio | Dragon Racing | 25 | 6th |
2 | Sebastien Buemi (FB) | e.dams Renault | 18 | 3rd |
3 | Loic Duval | Dragon Racing | 15 | 8th |
4 | Nelson Piquet Jr. (FL) (FB) | NEXTEV China Racing | 14 | 13th |
5 | Nick Heidfeld | Venturi | 10 | 4th |
6 | Stephane Sarrazin | Venturi | 8 | 9th |
7 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Andretti Autosport | 6 | 10th |
8 | Sam Bird | Virgin Racing | 4 | 15h |
9 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Trulli | 2 | 11th |
10 | Nicolas Prost | e.dams Renault | 1 | 7th |
11 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Amlin Aguri | 0 | 19th |
12 | Jaime Alguersauri | Virgin Racing | 0 | 14th |
13 | Scott Speed | Andretti Autosport | 0 | 12th |
14 | Daniel Abt | Audi Sport ABT | 0 | 5th |
15 | Karun Chandhok | Mahindra Racing | 0 | 20th |
16 | Charles Pic (FB) | NEXTEV China Racing | 0 | 17th |
17 | Salvador Duran | Amlin Aguri | 0 | 16th |
18 | Bruno Senna | Mahindra Racing | 0 | 18th |
19 | Jarno Trulli (P) | Trulli | 3 | 1st |
20 | Lucas Di Grassi | Audi Sport ABT | 0 | 2nd |
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.
A graduate in Public, Social and Political Communication from the University of Bologna, he has always been passionate about marketing, design and sport.
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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 motorsport sponsorship 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. Motorsport 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.
Motorsport 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 motorsport sponsorship agency like RTR has an objective, 360-degree picture of the scenario and can tell you what is really best for you: which racing series, 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 motorsport 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 motorsport marketing project, you need an agency that knows how to use sponsorship to engage the fanbase online, 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 motorsport 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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