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 September 18, 2016 | In MotoGP, Motor Racing, Motorsports
Former MotoGP World Champion and current World Superbike front-runner Nicky Hayden will replace injured Jack Miller in the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS squad for this weekend’s Grand Prix of Aragon in Spain.
Hayden will ride Miller’s Honda RC213V machine in this weekend’s 23-lap MotoGP encounter at the 5.1km Motorland Aragon track, which hosts round 14 of the World Championship.
Australian rider Miller is unfit to participate in this weekend’s action while he continues to recuperate from fractures in his right hand, which was an injury he first picked up in a high speed fall during the Warm-up session at the Red Bull Ring in Austria in mid-August.
Miller bravely raced to a 16th place finish in Silverstone’s British Grand Prix and then attempted similar heroics at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli last time out. Miller courageously rode in practice and qualifying in San Marino but the constant pain meant he withdrew ahead of the race.
Additional medical checks carried out immediately after the San Marino race revealed Miller has been riding with two fractures in his right hand.
The constant stress on the hand while riding has slowed the healing process and Miller, in consultation with HRC and the team has decided the most appropriate course of action is to miss this weekend’s Motorland Aragon encounter.
It is hoped the opportunity to take a lengthy period of rest and recuperation will give the 21-year-old the best chance possible of being fit to commence the gruelling flyaway triple-header in Japan next month.
Hayden brings a wealth of experience to Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS for this weekend’s race, which includes a podium in the inaugural Motorland Aragon race back in 2010.
The popular American started 216 races between 2003 and 2015 and claimed three victories and 25 other podium finishes. The highlight of the 35-year-old’s career was undoubtedly his World Championship success in 2006 when he defeated Valentino Rossi in a nail-biting final round decider in Valencia.
Tito Rabat will certainly be hoping to benefit from Hayden’s vast knowledge at a track where he has enjoyed tremendous success in the past.
The Spaniard hasn’t finished lower than second in the last three Moto2 races at Motorland Aragon, including a victory last year, and he is fully focused and determined to bounce back from a difficult race in San Marino.
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.
The online platform where you can discover the latest trends, strategies and insights from the exciting world of sports marketing.
View our blogMay 6, 2025
In the world of motorsport sponsorship, speed and performance have traditionally reigned supreme. However, a new race is underway, one towards sustainability. Both Formula 1 and MotoGP are st[...]
Read MoreMarch 12, 2025
As part of the sponsorship in motorsport, Moto2 represents a key piece from a technical point of view, from a communication point of view and as a transition platform to MotoGP. In this artic[...]
Read MoreFebruary 3, 2025
The recent cross-industry sponsorship agreement between Alpine and the Yamaha Pramac MotoGP team has caught the attention of motorsport insiders and fans, marking a significant shift in[...]
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
The online platform where you can discover the latest trends, strategies and insights from the exciting world of sports marketing.
View our blogMay 8, 2025
The 2025 World Rally Championship (WRC) season marks a significant shift in rally racing, with the elimination of hybrid power units and the introduction of new technical regulations. This ar[...]
Read MoreMay 8, 2025
The World Rally Championship (WRC) is much more than a competition between cars and drivers: it is a global ecosystem that attracts millions of spectators, fans and business partners worldwid[...]
Read MoreMay 8, 2025
The World Rally Championship (WRC) represents one of the most fascinating and challenging motorsport competitions in the world. With events held in different countries and on varying terrain,[...]
Read More