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F1: Mercedes Wehrlein and Ocon fastest in rain-hit Austria test
By Emanuele Venturoli| Posted June 22, 2015 | In Formula1, MotoGP, Sport News, Sport Sponsorship, Sports Marketing
By Emanuele Venturoli| Posted June 22, 2015 | In Formula1, MotoGP, Sport News, Sport Sponsorship, Sports Marketing
F1: Mercedes Wehrlein and Ocon fastest in rain-hit Austria test
Formula One’s second mid-season test got under-way today at the Red Bull Ring in Austria; 2 days after the Grand Prix last weekend. Mercedes young driver Pascal Wehrlein topped the standings ahead of fellow Mercedes backed driver Esteban Ocon; who was behind the wheel of the Force India. The session was extended by 2 hours after torrential rain washed out the morning session; with only 2 drivers braving to even set an installation lap.
Wehrlein’s time came after the Red Bull ring had a chance to dry during the afternoon session. His best time of 1’11.005 was 1.6 seconds slower than Lewis Hamilton’s pole position time in Qualifying for the Grand Prix.
Wehrlein had been set to drive for Force India today but on account of the awful conditions, Mercedes elected to rest Rosberg until tomorrow when the forecast is better. They drafted in Wehrlein for today, with Esteban Ocon taking the Force India seat. Ocon, also a Mercedes junior, ended the day in 2nd by less than 2 tenths. The Frenchman tested a partial B-spec car with a new front nose design.
Max Verstappen was one of the two drivers in action today who are currently racing in Formula One. He was behind the wheel of his Toro Rosso and he set the 3rd fastest time with the highest lap tally. The Dutchman completed 97 laps, 17 more than the next highest amount.
GP3 driver and Ferrari junior driver Antonio Fuoco was behind the wheel of the Ferrari as he made his debut behind the wheel of a Formula One car. The Italian scored a podium in the Austrian GP3 race last weekend, but the day didn’t go as smoothly for him today. Fuoco set the 4th fastest time, 4 tenths down on Wehrlein after completing the exact race distance of 71 laps, but his day ended early after crashing the car at turn 1.
Romain Grosjean was 5th fastest for Lotus with 45 laps to his name. He was 2 tenths faster than fellow Frenchman Pierre Gasly in the Red Bull. Gasly completed the second highest amount of laps after a productive, but lengthened, 11 hour test. Gasly was followed by Raffaele Marciello, with Sauber fielding their third driver for the first day of testing.
After narrowly missing out on taking a rare double win in last weekend’s GP2 action, Stoffel Vandoorne was behind the wheel of the McLaren-Honda. Thankfully for the Belgian, the McLaren went the whole day without stopping out on track with a mechanical problem. Fernando Alonso will be hoping for the same luck when he drives the car tomorrow.
Propping up the time-sheets behind Vandoorne was Williams development driver Susie Wolff, who completed the lowest tally of laps with just 39. Manor elected not to run in this test, as they had done in the previous test after the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in May. The test will continue tomorrow with drivers set to take part including Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas, Nico Rosberg, Felipe Nasr and Formula One debutante and reigning DTM champion Marco Wittmann.
Austria mid-season test day one time-sheets:
|
POS |
Driver |
Team |
Time |
Laps |
|
1 |
Pascal Wehrlein |
Mercedes |
1’11.005 |
67 |
|
2 |
Esteban Ocon |
Force India |
1’11.192 |
76 |
|
3 |
Max Verstappen |
Toro Rosso |
1’11.328 |
97 |
|
4 |
Antonio Fuoco |
Ferrari |
1’11.331 |
71 |
|
5 |
Romain Grosjean |
Lotus |
1’11.509 |
45 |
|
6 |
Pierre Gasly |
Red Bull |
1’11.757 |
80 |
|
7 |
Raffaele Marciello |
Sauber |
1’11.826 |
53 |
|
8 |
Stoffel Vandoorne |
McLaren |
1’12.530 |
76 |
|
9 |
Susie Wolff |
Williams |
1’13.248 |
39 |
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.
The right information, the right choice
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
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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