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MotoGP 2018: 6 highlights
By Emanuele Venturoli| Posted November 20, 2018 | In MotoGP, Motor Racing, Motorsports
By Emanuele Venturoli| Posted November 20, 2018 | In MotoGP, Motor Racing, Motorsports
MotoGP 2018: 6 highlights
It’s been a season of contrast for MotoGP, with triumphant highs as well as many lows – think falls and crashes from Catalunya to Argentina to Valencia, as well as moments of victory for riders on tracks they’d never conquered before, and even a disappointing cancellation at Silverstone after the rain stopped play in August.
Starting in Qatar in March and concluding in Valencia on 18th November, the 2018 season saw fights, feuds, and the retirement of some MotoGP icons.
Here are just a few of the talking points of what has truly been a nail-biting MotoGP season…
The Rossi vs. Marquez feud
CNN called their feud “largely dormant”, but tensions between two MotoGP legends – Valentino Rossi and eventual 2018 winner Marc Marquez – erupted spectacularly after the Argentine MotoGP in April. Anger was flared after a meeting of bikes saw Rossi pushed off the track, and he later called his rival “dangerous”. Rossi finished 19th and Marquez 5th in the race, with the latter being disciplined for “irresponsible riding” afterwards.
Assen: the best race of all time?
An exaggeration? Maybe, but it hasn’t stopped the cries that this year’s Dutch MotoGP was the best of all time coming from all quarters. Why was it so iconic? Something to do with the almost constant overtaking – more than 100 overtakes in all, according to motogp.com – and there being six different leaders at different times, perhaps? Thrilling, astonishing – call it what you like; this was MotoGP at its best.
A new track for Asia
Thailand took its place as a MotoGP host country in October, with the opening of the country’s MotoGP track at the Buriram International Circuit. The new track offers straight runs and fewer turns that we are used to, meaning thrilling speeds can be reached – and records, without a doubt, will be broken. The Spanish 25-year-old, Marc Marquez, was the first rider to claim victory at Buriram – one of nine races he won this MotoGP season.
The retirement of Dani Pedrosa
Valencia was the last MotoGP race for one of the sports modern greats, Spanish rider and 54-time winner Dani Pedrosa. The diminutive Spaniard has defied expectation since his MotoGP debut in 2006, where he finished a respectable second. The 33-year-old finished his final MotoGP season in 11th place.
The final win
In the end, the final MotoGP race of the season was taken by the Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso. The Italian saw success in a rainy Valencia on Sunday, after previous wins this season in San Marino, Qatar and the Czech Republic. It was Dovizioso’s first win at Valencia, and he called it a “truly spectacular victory”. With the conditions raining down on the riders in the Spanish city on race weekend, we have to agree.
Marquez reigns supreme
Marc Marquez finished in first place at MotoGP 2018, something that was a surprise to no one. With nine wins out of 19 races, Marquez was busy securing his victory by the beginning of the summer. Despite claims of dangerous driving (from Valentino Rossi, amongst others), there’s no doubt that the young Spanish driver is cleaning up at the moment. Will this continue in 2019? We’ll have to wait and see.
What will the 2019 season have in store for MotoGP’s teams, riders and sponsors? Watch this space…
To find out more about MotoGP or sports sponsorship in general, contact RTR Sports Marketing
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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Read MoreWhy choose RTR Sports Marketing
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
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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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