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Formula one: Maldonado fastest again for Lotus on day 3 of Catalunya test
By Emanuele Venturoli| Posted February 20, 2015 | In Formula1, MotoGP, Sport News, Sport Sponsorship, Sports Marketing
By Emanuele Venturoli| Posted February 20, 2015 | In Formula1, MotoGP, Sport News, Sport Sponsorship, Sports Marketing
Formula one: Maldonado fastest again for Lotus on day 3 of Catalunya test
Pastor Maldonado has finished as the fastest man in pre-season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya for the second time in three days. The Lotus driver set the fastest time of the test so far, a 1’24.348, on the fastest tyre compound available. He also completed an impressive 104 laps in the E23.
Second fastest was the driver with the most amount of laps completed today. Toro Rosso teenager Max Verstappen completed 129 laps and was 4 tenths of a second shy of the fastest time set by Maldonado. Max’s day came to an end in the last few minutes of running after his car ground to a halt at the end of the pit-lane.
There was then a gap of 1.3 seconds between 2nd place and Lewis Hamilton in 3rd. The Briton finally completed his first full day of running in this test after being ill Thursday and sharing the car with team-mate Rosberg yesterday. He completed 101 laps in the Mercedes.
4th fastest was Marcus Ericsson in the Sauber. The Swedish driver completed a low number of laps if we compare it to what we have seen from Sauber in pre-season testing so far. A total of 53 laps was completed by Marcus today, but the team still remain as one of the teams with the most amount of mileage this pre-season.
Sebastian Vettel in the #5 Ferrari was one of the five drivers to complete a century of laps in today’s test. The German completed 105 laps, the most he has completed in one day all year, with the 5th fastest lap. The day didn’t start as well as the quadruple world champion would’ve hoped after he beached the car in the gravel on his first out-lap; causing the first red flag of the day.
Vettel’s old team of Red Bull continued to showcase their improvement, with Daniil Kvyat completed 112 laps, the second largest amount today, on his way to the 6th fastest time. The team elected to focus more on race simulations during today’s running. Kvyat was 4 tenths faster than 7th placed Felipe Massa, who shared the day’s running with Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas who finished as the 9th fastest driver. The pair completed a combined total of 104 laps over the course of the day. Mercedes reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein split the two Williams drivers as he continued testing for Force India in their 2014 car.
McLaren finished on the bottom of the time-sheet with driver Jenson Button after completing just 24 laps. The team experienced a repeat of their MGU-K seal failure that had previously happened on Thursday.
Barcelona pre-season test day 3 time-sheets:
|
POS |
Driver |
Team |
Time |
Laps |
|
1 |
Pastor Maldonado |
Lotus |
1’24.348 |
104 |
|
2 |
Max Verstappen |
Toro Rosso |
1’24.739 |
129 |
|
3 |
Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes |
1’26.076 |
101 |
|
4 |
Marcus Ericsson |
Sauber |
1’26.340 |
53 |
|
5 |
Sebastian Vettel |
Ferrari |
1’26.407 |
105 |
|
6 |
Daniil Kvyat |
Red Bull |
1’26.589 |
112 |
|
7 |
Felipe Massa |
Williams |
1’26.912 |
55 |
|
8 |
Pascal Wehrlein |
Force India |
1’27.333 |
81 |
|
9 |
Valtteri Bottas |
Williams |
1’27.556 |
49 |
|
10 |
Jenson Button |
McLaren |
1’29.151 |
24 |
Emanuele Venturoli
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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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.
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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
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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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