{"id":344738,"date":"2026-06-22T17:43:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T15:43:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/?p=344738"},"modified":"2026-06-22T17:43:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T15:43:30","slug":"sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/","title":{"rendered":"The SIFI case: how we helped a Pharma company turn a MotoGP sponsorship into a decade-long scientific platform"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2015, SIFI<\/strong> was not an obvious candidate for MotoGP Sponsorship<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Founded in Catania in 1935, SIFI<\/strong> is one of Europe\u2019s most established independent ophthalmic companies \u2014 a developer and manufacturer of eye-care pharmaceuticals, intraocular lenses, surgical solutions and nutraceuticals, operating under the philosophy of \u201cEyeCare Together.\u201d Its customers are surgeons, clinicians and patients. Its world is the operating theatre and the medical congress, not the racing grid.<\/p>\n

On paper, the brand had none of the usual reasons to enter motorcycle racing. No consumer-impulse product to push through trackside sampling. No mass-market positioning that needed the reach of a global championship. No history in motorsport. A conventional read of the brief would have concluded that MotoGP was the wrong platform for a B2B medical company \u2014 and most agencies would have stopped there.<\/p>\n

The real question was never \u201cshould SIFI buy visibility in MotoGP?\u201d It was: is there a reason for an pharma company to be in this sport that no one else has thought of yet?<\/p>\n

The RTR recommendation<\/h2>\n

RTR\u2019s recommendation rested on a single insight that turned the apparent mismatch into the entire point of the partnership.<\/p>\n

MotoGP is, among other things, the most extreme test of human vision in professional sport.<\/strong> A rider at racing speed processes the track at over 350 km\/h \u2014 covering roughly one hundred metres every second \u2014 under physical, thermal and cognitive stress that has no equivalent in ordinary life. If you are an ophthalmic company whose mission is to understand and protect human sight, MotoGP is not an awkward fit for your brand. It is the most compelling laboratory you could possibly find.<\/p>\n

That reframing did two things at once. It gave SIFI a reason-why that was authentic to its identity rather than borrowed from someone else\u2019s marketing \u2014 visibility became a by-product of genuine scientific purpose, not the goal. And it pointed to the right partner. RTR recommended LCR Honda MotoGP Team, led by Lucio Cecchinello \u2014 a top-tier, factory-supported independent team with the access, the riders and, crucially, the willingness to collaborate on something more demanding than a sticker on a fairing.<\/p>\n

The thesis RTR put to SIFI was therefore not \u201csponsor a team.\u201d It was: build a long-term scientific and communications platform inside MotoGP<\/strong>, with the sponsorship as its commercial backbone. Everything that followed was the execution of that idea.<\/p>\n

What we built \u2014 across the full lifecycle<\/h2>\n

A decade-long partnership is not a single decision. It is a structure that has to be designed, populated, defended and renewed year after year. RTR\u2019s role ran the entire length of that lifecycle, and across every level of the championship\u2019s ecosystem.<\/p>\n

1. Team level \u2014 the commercial foundation<\/h2>\n

The SIFI badge<\/strong> has appeared continuously on the front fairing of the LCR Honda RC213V and on the riders\u2019 leathers \u2014 from Cal Crutchlow<\/strong> in the early years through Takaaki Nakagami<\/strong>, \u00c1lex M\u00e1rquez<\/strong> and Johann Zarco<\/strong> \u2014 as well as on the team\u2019s trucks, garage, staff apparel, communication materials and digital properties. This is the visible, contractual core of the deal: consistent, championship-long exposure on one of the most photographed objects in world motorsport.<\/p>\n

But visibility was always treated as the foundation, never the building.<\/p>\n

2. Activation level \u2014 turning rights into outcomes<\/h2>\n

A logo that is never activated is, in RTR\u2019s language, a blank sticker. Over ten years, the partnership was leveraged through a deliberate activation programme: hospitality weekends for SIFI\u2019s partners; international corporate and convention events built around LCR\u2019s riders and the showbike; brand presence at circuits; branded merchandise; rider appearances; and structured B2B opportunities connecting SIFI to the wider commercial and stakeholder network of the paddock.<\/p>\n

The sampling programme is worth describing in concrete terms. At the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano, sample units of Videorelax<\/strong> \u2014 SIFI\u2019s OTC ocular self-medication product portfolio\u2014 were distributed across the circuit over three days of racing. The stand was anchored by the face of Cal Crutchlow, LCR\u2019s lead rider at the time, and drew personal visits from Lucio Cecchinello, who signed autographs and posed for photographs with the public in the grandstands and on the grass banks. The operation ran across multiple consecutive seasons, embedding the Videorelax brand into one of the most attended European rounds on the calendar.<\/p>\n

The activation footprint extended well beyond the track. For two consecutive years (2017 and 2018), SIFI was Official Sponsor of Lucca Comics and Games<\/strong>, Italy\u2019s international festival of comics, animation and gaming \u2014 an event that drew over 250,000 ticketed visitors across five days. SIFI\u2019s field team, uniformed in Videorelax livery, distributed product samples throughout the exhibition location around the city, supported by large-format branded banners at the festival\u2019s key locations and a targeted survey on ocular health culture and product awareness. Lucca was a deliberate strategic choice: a young, screen-intensive audience that spends hours in front of monitors is precisely the population most likely to experience tired, red and fatigued eyes \u2014 in line with the product core brand strategy and consumer experience for Videorelax. The MotoGP platform was being used as the engine for a broader consumer marketing programme, entirely off-circuit.<\/p>\n

The sponsorship became a working tool inside SIFI\u2019s own marketing and customer-relationship calendar \u2014 not a line item, but an engine.<\/p>\n

3. Scientific level \u2014 the platform that made it unique<\/h2>\n

The element that lifted this partnership out of the ordinary was the Driving Vision Science<\/strong> (DVS) project, launched in 2015 and later broadened into Performance Vision Science (PVS).<\/p>\n

Working with LCR\u2019s riders as research subjects, SIFI set out to study how the human visual system behaves under the most extreme conditions sport can produce. The investigation measured ocular-surface symptoms, visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, blink rate, anterior-segment imaging and tear-film osmolarity \u2014 later expanding to the retina, intraocular pressure and other parameters \u2014 both on and off the track.<\/p>\n

The headline finding became one of the most widely reported sports-science stories of its kind: MotoGP riders blink dramatically less than ordinary people<\/strong>. Where a typical person blinks roughly every four to six seconds, the riders studied blinked as rarely as once every three minutes \u2014 with at least one rider recorded going some nine minutes without blinking. At Mugello,<\/strong> where a lap takes around one minute fifty, that means completing a lap and a half without batting an eye. The data also showed that, despite relentless exposure to wind, UV and stress, the riders were not developing the dry-eye damage one would expect \u2014 opening genuine clinical questions about concentration, blink rate and visual fatigue, and pointing toward eye-training protocols.<\/p>\n

This was not marketing dressed up as science. The results were presented to the international ophthalmic community at major congresses \u2014 including the ESCRS<\/strong> (European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons) meeting at Vienna\u2019s Hofburg in 2018 \u2014 and the project was featured by MotoGP\u2019s own official channels. For a brand whose currency is clinical credibility, this was reach of a kind that no amount of conventional advertising could buy.<\/p>\n

4. Championship level \u2014 beyond a single team<\/h2>\n

The partnership eventually reached past LCR<\/strong> to the championship itself. Supported by Dorna,<\/strong> SIFI took on the eye examinations and ophthalmic screening of riders across all racing classes over a period of years \u2014 embedding the brand into the prevention and rider-welfare fabric of the entire paddock, and turning a single-team sponsorship into a championship-wide eye-care programme.<\/p>\n

This is the level most sponsorships never touch, and it is the clearest proof of the depth of the relationships involved: a partnership that began as a badge on one team\u2019s fairing grew into a standing role within the championship\u2019s own operations.<\/p>\n

5. The MotoE extension \u2014 a final statement of commitment<\/h2>\n

In the tenth and final season of the partnership, SIFI extended its presence beyond the MotoGP class to include the MotoE<\/strong> championship \u2014 the all-electric category that represents the sport\u2019s next technological frontier. The move was consistent with the logic that had governed the partnership from the start: a company committed to research, innovation and the science of performance does not stop at a class boundary. It follows the sport where it is going.<\/p>\n

The architect on the brand side \u2014 Dr. Carmelo Chines<\/h2>\n

No partnership of this complexity sustains itself by institutional inertia. It sustains itself because someone on the brand side understands, year after year, what it is for and what it is capable of.<\/p>\n

That person, at SIFI, has been Dr. Carmelo Chines<\/strong>, at that time Executive Director Operations, whose vision and leadership have been the decisive variable in this partnership\u2019s longevity and depth.<\/p>\n

It was Dr. Chines who grasped, from the earliest stages, the singular strategic logic of a medical company operating inside the world\u2019s fastest sport: that the authority MotoGP lends to a brand is not the authority of mass visibility but the authority of extreme relevance. That credibility built on a racing grid is credibility earned in the most rigorous possible conditions, and that a company whose mission is to improve the quality of human vision has no more powerful demonstration than the men and women who see the world more clearly than anyone else alive.<\/p>\n

Under his direction, SIFI did not merely occupy space inside the paddock. It used that space to generate original science, to build relationships with the international ophthalmic community, to activate at events ranging from the circuits of MotoGP to the streets of Lucca, and to embed its brand into the rider-welfare architecture of the championship itself. Each of these decisions required strategic conviction and the willingness to pursue a long horizon rather than a short return.<\/p>\n

The result \u2014 ten uninterrupted seasons, a proprietary scientific programme cited at European ophthalmic congresses, a brand whose name is known and respected across the paddock, and an acquisition by a major European pharmaceutical group in 2025 \u2014 is in no small part the reflection of that conviction.<\/p>\n

In Dr. Chines\u2019s own words: \u201cOur mission is to improve the quality of vision \u2014 and therefore the visual performance of athletes \u2014 while continuing to surround ourselves with successful partners who share our values.\u201d It is a sentence that describes exactly the kind of sponsor RTR is built to serve: one who understands that a partnership is not a purchase, but a commitment.<\/p>\n

The result<\/h2>\n

Ten consecutive seasons. From the 2015 Italian Grand Prix to the 2025 Italian Grand Prix, SIFI and LCR Honda renewed every single year \u2014 a continuity that is rare in any sport and almost unheard of in MotoGP, where most commercial relationships turn over within a few seasons.<\/p>\n

What SIFI<\/strong> obtained was never just exposure, though the exposure was substantial and uninterrupted. It was:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • a proprietary scientific platform<\/strong> generating original data, peer engagement and earned media in both the sporting and medical worlds;<\/li>\n
  • a B2B and hospitality engine<\/strong> that put the brand in front of the right clinical and commercial audiences, year after year;<\/li>\n
  • a consumer activation programme<\/strong> \u2014 through trackside sampling and off-circuit events such as Lucca Comics and Games \u2014 that turned sponsorship rights into direct market presence;<\/li>\n
  • an authentic brand narrative<\/strong> \u2014 eye-care credibility demonstrated, not asserted \u2014 that reinforced exactly the positioning SIFI needed in its real market;<\/li>\n
  • and a partnership<\/strong> so settled that, in RTR\u2019s own description, the two organisations came to operate less like sponsor and team than like family<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Over the same decade SIFI<\/strong> grew into an international ophthalmic group operating across several continents, ultimately attracting acquisition by a major European pharmaceutical company in 2025. The MotoGP platform was not the cause of that growth \u2014 but it was, throughout, one of the most distinctive assets<\/strong> in how the company presented itself to the world.<\/p>\n

    Why this engagement could only have been built by RTR Sports<\/h2>\n

    A logo placement can be brokered by almost anyone with a contact at a team. This could not.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Designing a sponsorship around a scientific reason-why; matching the brand to the one team willing to collaborate on research; building the activation, hospitality and B2B programme that turned those rights into outcomes; constructing a consumer sampling operation that ran from the Misano pit lane to the medieval streets of Lucca; supporting the dissemination of the science to congresses and media; and ultimately helping the relationship extend from a single team up to a championship-wide role with Dorna \u2014 that requires an agency that operates on every side of the table at once: sponsor-side, team-side and championship-side.<\/p>\n

    That is the difference between an agency that sells inventory and an agency that architects a programme. RTR Sports introduced SIFI to MotoGP in 2015, then stayed for the entire decade as the independent partner structuring, activating and renewing the relationship at each stage. The breadth of what was built is a direct function of the depth of the relationships behind it \u2014 and depth measured in decades, across every level of the sport, is the one thing a competitor cannot manufacture.<\/p>\n

    This is what full-lifecycle, multi-level intervention in MotoGP<\/strong> looks like. It is the standard RTR Sports was built to deliver.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In 2015, SIFI was not an obvious candidate for MotoGP Sponsorship. Founded in Catania in 1935, SIFI is one of Europe\u2019s most established independent ophthalmic companies \u2014 a developer and manufacturer of eye-care pharmaceuticals, intraocular lenses, surgical solutions and nutraceuticals, operating under the philosophy of \u201cEyeCare Together.\u201d Its customers are surgeons, clinicians and patients. Its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":277652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-344738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motogp"],"acf":[],"contentshake_article_id":"","yoast_head":"\nThe SIFI case: how we helped a Pharma company turn a MotoGP sponsorship into a decade-long scientific platform<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SIFI \u00d7 LCR Honda MotoGP: Why this is an engagement only an independent agency operating on every side of the table could have built.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The SIFI case: how we helped a Pharma company turn a MotoGP sponsorship into a decade-long scientific platform\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"SIFI \u00d7 LCR Honda MotoGP: Why this is an engagement only an independent agency operating on every side of the table could have built.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RTR Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RTRSportsMarketing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Sifi-LCR-sponsorship-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Riccardo Taf\u00e0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rtrsports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@rtrsports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Riccardo Taf\u00e0\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Riccardo Taf\u00e0\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7ca2648b3d857cbfff8c499aaed0420e\"},\"headline\":\"The SIFI case: how we helped a Pharma company turn a MotoGP sponsorship into a decade-long scientific platform\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-22T15:43:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2162,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/Sifi-LCR-sponsorship-3.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"MotoGP\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\\\/\",\"name\":\"The SIFI case: how we helped a Pharma company turn a MotoGP sponsorship into a decade-long scientific platform\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/Sifi-LCR-sponsorship-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-22T15:43:30+00:00\",\"description\":\"SIFI \u00d7 LCR Honda MotoGP: Why this is an engagement only an independent agency operating on every side of the table could have built.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/Sifi-LCR-sponsorship-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/Sifi-LCR-sponsorship-3.jpg\",\"width\":2400,\"height\":1600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/blog\\\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The SIFI case: how we helped a Pharma company turn a MotoGP sponsorship into a decade-long scientific platform\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"RTR Sports Marketing\",\"description\":\"RTR Sports Marketing is a global motorsport sponsorship agency and consultancy, specialized in Formula 1 and MotoGP, and active across all major international racing series including Formula E, NASCAR, WEC, WRC and Dakar, helping brands build data-driven, high-performance sponsorship programs.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"RTR Sports\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"RTR Sports Marketing\",\"alternateName\":\"RTR sports\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/rtrsports-anniversary-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/rtrsports-anniversary-1.jpg\",\"width\":946,\"height\":260,\"caption\":\"RTR Sports Marketing\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/RTRSportsMarketing\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/rtrsports\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/rtr-sports-marketing\\\/\"],\"description\":\"RTR Sports Marketing is a global motorsport sponsorship agency and consultancy, specialized in Formula 1 and MotoGP, and active across all major international racing series including Formula E, NASCAR, WEC, WRC and Dakar, helping brands build data-driven, high-performance sponsorship programs.\",\"email\":\"info@rtrsports.com\",\"legalName\":\"RTR Sports Marketing LTD\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"1\",\"maxValue\":\"10\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7ca2648b3d857cbfff8c499aaed0420e\",\"name\":\"Riccardo Taf\u00e0\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0e03f35d1883656b70508e45dddcbdf581004a3a428fe432d9559b9bbffe803c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0e03f35d1883656b70508e45dddcbdf581004a3a428fe432d9559b9bbffe803c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0e03f35d1883656b70508e45dddcbdf581004a3a428fe432d9559b9bbffe803c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Riccardo Taf\u00e0\"},\"description\":\"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.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/stg-rtrsportscom-rtrstaging.kinsta.cloud\",\"https:\\\/\\\/uk.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/riccardotafa\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/rtrsports.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/riccardo\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The SIFI case: how we helped a Pharma company turn a MotoGP sponsorship into a decade-long scientific platform","description":"SIFI \u00d7 LCR Honda MotoGP: Why this is an engagement only an independent agency operating on every side of the table could have built.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The SIFI case: how we helped a Pharma company turn a MotoGP sponsorship into a decade-long scientific platform","og_description":"SIFI \u00d7 LCR Honda MotoGP: Why this is an engagement only an independent agency operating on every side of the table could have built.","og_url":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/","og_site_name":"RTR Sports","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RTRSportsMarketing\/","og_image":[{"width":2400,"height":1600,"url":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Sifi-LCR-sponsorship-3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Riccardo Taf\u00e0","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@rtrsports","twitter_site":"@rtrsports","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Riccardo Taf\u00e0","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/"},"author":{"name":"Riccardo Taf\u00e0","@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7ca2648b3d857cbfff8c499aaed0420e"},"headline":"The SIFI case: how we helped a Pharma company turn a MotoGP sponsorship into a decade-long scientific platform","datePublished":"2026-06-22T15:43:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/"},"wordCount":2162,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Sifi-LCR-sponsorship-3.jpg","articleSection":["MotoGP"],"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/","url":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/","name":"The SIFI case: how we helped a Pharma company turn a MotoGP sponsorship into a decade-long scientific platform","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Sifi-LCR-sponsorship-3.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-22T15:43:30+00:00","description":"SIFI \u00d7 LCR Honda MotoGP: Why this is an engagement only an independent agency operating on every side of the table could have built.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Sifi-LCR-sponsorship-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Sifi-LCR-sponsorship-3.jpg","width":2400,"height":1600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/blog\/sifi-pharma-company-motogp-sponsorship\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The SIFI case: how we helped a Pharma company turn a MotoGP sponsorship into a decade-long scientific platform"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/","name":"RTR Sports Marketing","description":"RTR Sports Marketing is a global motorsport sponsorship agency and consultancy, specialized in Formula 1 and MotoGP, and active across all major international racing series including Formula E, NASCAR, WEC, WRC and Dakar, helping brands build data-driven, high-performance sponsorship programs.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/#organization"},"alternateName":"RTR Sports","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/#organization","name":"RTR Sports Marketing","alternateName":"RTR sports","url":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/rtrsports-anniversary-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/rtrsports-anniversary-1.jpg","width":946,"height":260,"caption":"RTR Sports Marketing"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RTRSportsMarketing\/","https:\/\/x.com\/rtrsports","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/rtr-sports-marketing\/"],"description":"RTR Sports Marketing is a global motorsport sponsorship agency and consultancy, specialized in Formula 1 and MotoGP, and active across all major international racing series including Formula E, NASCAR, WEC, WRC and Dakar, helping brands build data-driven, high-performance sponsorship programs.","email":"info@rtrsports.com","legalName":"RTR Sports Marketing LTD","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"1","maxValue":"10"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/7ca2648b3d857cbfff8c499aaed0420e","name":"Riccardo Taf\u00e0","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e03f35d1883656b70508e45dddcbdf581004a3a428fe432d9559b9bbffe803c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e03f35d1883656b70508e45dddcbdf581004a3a428fe432d9559b9bbffe803c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0e03f35d1883656b70508e45dddcbdf581004a3a428fe432d9559b9bbffe803c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Riccardo Taf\u00e0"},"description":"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.","sameAs":["https:\/\/stg-rtrsportscom-rtrstaging.kinsta.cloud","https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/in\/riccardotafa"],"url":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/author\/riccardo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":344739,"href":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344738\/revisions\/344739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rtrsports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}