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By Riccardo Tafà| Posted May 30, 2016 | In MotoGP, MotoGP
Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa are looking forward to their home GP of CATALUNYA on Sunday. The race follows a positive showing two weeks ago in Mugello, where both riders had a strong race pace and fought hard for a victory and a podium position, respectively.
The GP of CATALUNYA Circuit, circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is located in the hills just 12 kilometres north of Barcelona. Its 4.7km track features a blend of eight right-hand turns and five lefts, and both riders can claim strong records there. Marquez won the 125cc race in 2010, in Moto2 he finished second in 2011 and third in 2012, and in MotoGP he took the final podium position in the 2013 race and won in 2014. Last year Marc crashed out of the race from second place on lap 3.
Dani has been victorious in all classes in Catalunya, winning the 125cc race in 2003, the 250cc GP in 2005 and the MotoGP race in 2008. He has earned six additional podium finishes in the MotoGP class, including each of the last five years, with last year’s third place being his first podium of 2015 following a tough start to the season due to a surgery.
After Sunday’s GP, the team will remain in Montmeló for a one-day test on Monday.
Marc Marquez
Championship Standing: 2nd – 105 points
“There’s nothing like racing at home in front of your crowd and your fan club to make you feel good and give you extra motivation, even if in the end you must try and be as professional as always and to completely focus on the job at hand. We’ll see how it goes there, and as always we’ll work hard on the bike setup in order to make the most of what we have, an approach that has worked well enough so far. I know that Honda is working at 100% and at Montmeló we’ll give our best to get another good result. Then at the Monday post-race test we’ll see if we’re able to find that half a tenth that could help us a lot, as we were able to do last year on the same occasion.”
Marc Marquez Statistics | More Statistics
Date of Birth 17/02/1993
Birthplace Lleida, (Catalonia) – Spain
Height 168 cm
Weight 59 kg
Hobbies Mountain Biking, Video games
Racing Number 93
First Race 1998 “Enduro per nens”
Grand Prix Debut 2008 125cc Portugal GP (KTM 125 FRR)
GPs raced 138
GP pole positions 60 (14 in 125cc, 14 in 250cc, 32 in MotoGP)
Total GP podiums 83 (14 x 125cc, 25 x Moto2, 44 x MotoGP)
Total GP wins 52 (10 x 125cc, 16 x Moto2, 26 x MotoGP)
First GP Win 2010 125cc Italian GP (Derbi RSA 125)
World titles 4 (1 x 125cc – 2010, 1 x Moto2 – 2012, 2 x MotoGP – 2013, 2014)
Dani Pedrosa Championship Standing: 4th – 66 points
“I’m looking forward to racing at home in Catalunya, at a track I love and where I’ve had some very good results in the past. Last year I took my first podium of the season there, and it was the first race where I really felt I was coming back after the surgery to my arms. I hope to be able to do well again in front of my fan club and my entire home crowd. We’ll work on the bike setup, using what we learned at the last race to see if we can get something extra, trying to keep the momentum from Mugello, which was my best GP so far this season in terms of feeling on the bike during the race. Then we’ll see if we can take a further step forward in the post-race test on Monday.”
Dani Pedrosa Statistics | More Statistics
Date of Birth 29/09/1985
Birthplace Sabadell, (Catalonia) – Spain
Height 160 cm
Weight 51kg
Hobbies Cycling, Motocross, Windsurfing, Cinema
Racing number 26
First race 1997 Pocket bike race
Grand Prix debut 2001. 125cc Japanese GP, Suzuka – (Honda RS125R)
GPs raced 250
GP pole positions 46 (9 in 125cc, 9 in 250cc, 28 in MotoGP)
Total GP podiums 142 (17 x 125cc, 24 x 250cc, 101 x MotoGP)
Total GP wins 51 (8 x 125cc, 15 x 250cc, 28 x MotoGP)
First GP win 2002. 125cc Dutch GP, Assen – (Honda RS125R)
World titles 3 (1 x 125cc – 2003, 2 x 250cc – 2004, 2005)
MotoGP 2016 Tuesday, May 31st 2016
Rider Standings
Limited to top 30 results
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor
1 LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA 115 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha
2 MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA 105 Repsol Honda Team Honda
3 ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA 78 Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha
4 PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA 66 Repsol Honda Team Honda
5 VINALES Maverick 25 SPA 59 Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki
6 ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA 49 Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki
7 ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA 48 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha
8 BARBERA Hector 8 SPA 43 Avintia Racing Ducati
9 IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA 41 Ducati Team Ducati
10 LAVERTY Eugene 50 IRE 36 Aspar MotoGP Team Ducati
11 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA 34 Ducati Team Ducati
12 SMITH Bradley 38 GBR 29 Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha
13 BRADL Stefan 6 GER 25 Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia
14 BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA 21 Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia
15 PIRRO Michele 51 ITA 18 Ducati Team Ducati
16 PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA 17 Octo Pramac Racing Ducati
17 REDDING Scott 45 GBR 16 Octo Pramac Racing Ducati
18 RABAT Tito 53 SPA 11 Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda
19 CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR 10 LCR Honda Honda
20 BAZ Loris 76 FRA 8 Avintia Racing Ducati
21 HERNANDEZ Yonny 68 COL 3 Aspar MotoGP Team Ducati
22 MILLER Jack 43 AUS 2 Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda
REPSOL HONDA TEAM PRESS RELEASEBOOK YOUR HOSPITALITY FOR GP of CATALUNYA!
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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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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