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By Riccardo Tafà| Posted September 14, 2015 | In MotoGP, Motor Racing, Motorsports
For the fourth time this season, the reigning world champion Marc Márquez takes home the victory at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. It’s the first win in the MotoGP class for Márquez and the second one for Honda. Márquez’ teammate Dani Pedrosa could secure the first win at the adriatic coast for the japanese manufacturer in 2010. Ever since then Honda waited for another victory. The race itself was one of the most thrilling in the history of motorcycle racing. Whereas both of the smaller classes raced under perfect conditions, bad weather arrived just in time for the MotoGP race.
On the grid, every rider started on slicks, but soon the rain started to poure more and more. Up until then, Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo had let the way after starting from Pole Position. Marquez followed closely, with Lorenzos teammate Valentino Rossi climbing up the scale.
Soon Rossi was up front, but the rain forced the riders to change bikes. A lot of roders changed just in time, but both factory Yamaha riders tried to stay out as long as possible.
Rossi was leading at this point. The Doctor certainly didn’t wanted to submit his lead. Both Márquez and Lorenzo pitted earlier than Rossi, doing it at the right time. Since his slick tires were unable to work in those dry conditions, the italian had to return to the pits sooner or later.
But things went even crazier. Just after a few laps, the track started to dry out again, making the rain tires suffer. With the ever-changing conditions, a lot of riders decided to change the bikes once again. Márquez came in due to the information by his team over the pitboard just in time and managed to take the lead after the second bike-change. Lorenzo did as well, but unfortunately the spaniard crashed few turns later, because he was demanding to much from the still cold slick tires.
With Lorenzo out of the race, Tech3 rider Bradley Smith, who hadn’t changed tires for the entire race, got up even further than he was before. The brit crossed the finish line behind Márquez in second place. The podium was completed by Marc VDS rider Scott Redding, who had even crashed in the early stages of the race, but came back even stronger. Behind them in fourth place finished a phenomenal Loris Baz on the Forward Yamaha. The frenchman was the first rider to enter the pits the first time.
The fifth place was secured by the reigning championship leader Valentino Rossi. The local hero of Misano increased his lead in the overall standings to 23 points, due to Lorenzos crash. And even if the record world champion finished off of the podium, the Misano crowd still chanted for the MotoGP legend. Danilo Petrucci finished with another satisfying result. After his first podium ever in Silverstone, the italian secured a sixth place, outclassing the Ducati factory riders once again. Both Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso followed in seventh and eighth place. Repsol Honda pilot Dani Pedrosa was far away from repeating his performance from 2010. Whereas teammate Márquez could prevail, Pedrosa struggled throughout the race and could only end the race as ninth. Behind him Suzuki pilot Aleix Espargaro completed the Top Ten.
With Lorenzo crashing out of the race after the second bike switch, Tech3 rider Pol Espargaro unfortunately followed the example of his fellow countrymen. The younger Espargaro crashed one lap later. Also Pramac’s Yonny Hernandez and Alex De Angelis fell out of the race, but with still 19 laps to go. The rider with the most bad luck in Misano certainly was Ducati test rider Michele Pirro. The italian started as a wildcard-pilot for the second time this season, his first appearance being at the Italien Grand Prix in Mugello. All weekend thing went quite well for Pirro, the went directly into QP2 and finish in front of the actual Ducati riders Iannone and Dovizioso. But minutes before the race was started, some technical issues on his Desmosedici forced him to start with his second bike, which had a setup for rain. Pirro had to end the race, just like Hernandez and De Angelis, with 19 laps to go. All riders remained unhurt, but Lorenzo was taken to medical center after his crash, because there was a chance of a broken bone in his hand. Meanwhile Lorenzo confirmed that he hadn’t suffered any injuries whatsoever.
The next round of MotoGP goes underway on friday, 25th of September at the Motorland Aragón, Spain.
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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