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By Riccardo Tafà| Posted August 31, 2014 | In MotoGP
The english Grand Prix is commonly known as one of the most changeable in the MotoGP calendar. The weather is usually very erratic, so the chances for a flag-to-flag race are given on every race day at the Silverstone circuit. But due to the conditions the whole day, the weather god seems to have a passion for good motorsport.
First to deliver just this was the Moto2 field. Fastest man in qualifying was the french rider Johann Zarco, who proved with a neat start, that his pole position was well-earned. But despite this fact, Mac VDS rider Mika Kallio was leading the field in front of Zarco after just one lap. Kallio dominated the race very quickly, opening a big gap as fast as he could.
Behind him, with a lead of more than one second, the fighting got on. Especially Zarco battled hard with the warm-up’s fastest man, Jonas Folger. The german fought his way up to third position, after leaving Simone Corsi and Esteve „Tito“ Rabat behind him. Unfortunately he was past back after a couple of laps, riding just in 6th position. Considering a start from place 5, a throwback that is bearable and a position to catch up again, but sadly that wasn’t the only mistake the Kalex rider made.
A few laps later, Folger took turn 14 too far inside and lost his front wheel. He fell and took the guiltless Simone Corsi with him. Both riders couldn’t rejoin the race again, but Corsi has apparently injured his hand.
Up front the battling went on, now with Maverick Viñales being involved. The Kalex rider made his way up, leaving the weaken Zarco and Tito Rabat behind him. But Viñales lost this promising position, after taking too much risk in an encounter with Rabat. The last years Moto3 champion had to take outlet zone to prevent a crash that would have taken him and his rival out of the race.
That made Rabat the new second, but still the encounter costed time. The only one benefiting from that was leader Mika Kallio, whose lead had by now increased to 2,5 seconds. What seems uncatchable, made Rabat his task. With four laps to go, the gap between him and his teammate shrank rapidly. Also Zarco and Viñales continued the battle behind the current championship leader, letting him escape.
Rabat is known in the paddock for reaching his highest form within the actual race. He seems to get stronger with every taken lap and he proved this judgment once again. With only two more laps to go, he took the first position from Kallio, who had been leading this Grand Prix from the very beginning.
This fight between teammates got on, with a constantly switch of leadership, until at the beginning of the last lap. Rabat prevailed and prevented every overtake by Kallio and the resurgent Maverick Viñales. Last to complete the Moto3 podium was polesetter Johann Zarco.
The ones to not finish the race were Jonas Folger and Simone Corsi, due to their crash, Xavier Simeon and Lorenzo Baldassarri. Also, Jeremy McWilliams and Dakota Mamola, who just attended the Silverstone Grand Prix, weren’t able to cross the finish line.
Only one to crash out of race in MotoGP was Honda Gresini rider Álvaro Bautista. A disaster for the spaniard, since it’s not yet decided where he’s going to ride next year. A better recommendation left his teammate Scott Redding. The local hero rode a solid race, finishing 10th, two places ahead of fellow countrymen Cal Crutchlow. The Ducati rider struggled with his bike, even at his home Grand Prix. More than a 12th place wasn’t possible.
But from an english perspective, apart from Redding, this race wasn’t the most sucessfull one. Bradley Smith, who started great, lost his 7th place due to technical issues with his Tech3 Yamaha, finishing 22th. But above everything else, the MotoGP fans around the world wanted to see a repetition from last years incredible fight between Marc Márquez and Jorge Lorenzo. The race was one of the most remindable and probably most thrilling races ever in motorcycle history.
The chances were good, after Lorenzo’s good start from third position, which took him to the leadership. Marc Márquez came up right behind him, followed by a more surprising Aleix Espargaró. He and Andrea Dovizioso, who started behind Márquez as second, fought hard for the first laps, but had to give in later, althrough Andrea Dovizioso was able to stay as close to the top as possible.
So after some spectacular fights with Valentino Rossi, Espargaró had to tear off and leave the third place to the Yamaha factory rider. By that time, Rossi’s chance to catch up on Márquez and the still leading Jorge Lorenzo shrunk.
Both were far away, so Rossi had to deal with Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso throughout the remaining laps. The Doctor’s goal was to achieve his first podium ever at the Silverstone circuit, which meant holding everyone behind him.
With Lorenzo still leading over Márquez, his teammate Dani Pedrosa passed Dovizioso and, later on, Rossi. Pedrosa had started from a low 5th place, nothing common for the long time Repsol rider. But after the win in Brno, this wasn’t Pedrosa’s race.
Rossi and Dovizioso overtook him again, but this matter was missed out, due to the developments up front. After a long wait, which seemed to be scheduled, Márquez finally got past Lorenzo. With his second year in the premiere class of motorcycle racing, Márquez seemed to have learned everything. He watched Lorenzo and figured out what would be the best spot to overtake him.
But Jorge Lorenzo slowly comes back to be his last years self. With five laps into the race, he fought Márquez again and again, not putting off. After all, this time took him nowhere. After 17 laps, Márquez blocked the Yamaha rider out with a very hard maneuver. Lorenzo tried to get back on him, but sadly without sucess.
Márquez has won his 11th race this season, a thing that only Valentino Rossi accomplished before him. The italian himself finished third, setting a new world record. With 246 Grands Prix, he’s now the rider with the most race participations. A number that will suit the “greatest rider of all times”.
Something that won’t suit him is the result his Moto3 team had drawn in. Romano Fenati, who is supposed to be title contender, started from a horrendous 22th place. He bravely made his way up thoughout the race, reaching 15h position. Nothing satisfying neither, despite the fact that his teammate Francesco Bagnaia only crossed the finish line as 21th.
So from an italian point of view, all eyes lay on rookie Enea Bastianini. The sixteen year old was supposed to ride the Red Bull Rookies Cup this year, but was taken into the world championship at last minute. An absolutely right decision, considering his fourth place in qualifying.
Polesetter Alex Rins made a good start, but despite the fact that Bastianini left the first corner as the new second, a matter that lost it’s significance. Also Alex Márquez closed up to them, taking the lead from his teammate Rins. The battle got on and on throughout the complete race.
In between championship leader Jack Miller was involved, but somehow lost connection to the leading group. With not even finishing the first lap, Efren Vazquez crashed out of the race, quickly followed by Andrea Migno, who is supposed to replace Arthur Sissis in the Mahindra Racing team. Luckily both riders appeared to be unhurt and haven’t taken any others with them.
In the leading group, things were changing so incredibly fast, the cameras couldn’t capture every single overtake. Miguel Oliveira made his way up, taking the lead in front of Bastianini for a few instants. Also Niccolò Antonelli, Alexis Masbou and Jakub Kornfeil closed up on the front row, making it even more confused.
But with four laps to go, the field was somewhat sorted. The leading group shrunk to Bastianini still up first, followed by Márquez, Rins and Oliveria.
A gap opened between them and the remaining riders, down to KTM rider Romano Fenati.
For the last two lap, nothing was decided up front. Márquez and Rins went past Bastianini, but the rookie did not want to but back. All three provided a phenomenal duel, which Rins left as winner, just 0,011 seconds before his teammate. Third was Enea Bastianini, after a fantastic performance, followed by Miguel Oliveira. Jack Miller finished the race just in 6th position, even letting Jakub Kornfeil pass.
He’s still the championship leader, but his lead shrunk to just 13 points. If Miller is able to open that gap up a little more, will show the Misano Grand Prix in two weeks.
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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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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