There has been a somewhat mixed response from the MotoGP grid at the news that mid-pack Moto3 rider Darryn Binder will join the 2022 line-up with the newly-formed WithU Yamaha RNF Racing team, as months of rumours were finally made official ahead of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Misano.
Binder’s time in Grand Prix racing has so far been somewhat lacklustre, with only a single win to his name in seven years of racing in the lightweight class.
He is currently sixth in the Moto3 standings, having taken two poles and two podiums this season.
And while he wasn’t exactly critical of the decision to make the move to MotoGP, even his brother Brad, a factory KTM rider and a double race winner in the premier class, said he knows that the challenge will be a huge one for the 23-year-old.
“Obviously I’d like to help my brother wherever I can,” Brad said when asked by The Race how he’d be able to assist Darryn in the huge transition from Moto3 to MotoGP.
“But that step is serious. To jump from, what, maybe 60 horsepower, somewhere around there, to near enough 300 is a long way.
“So, it’s a big step – going from those little bikes to big bikes, they’re really quite difficult, and then adding all the horsepower and electronics and things makes it more of a challenge. So for sure he’s got a lot of learning to do.
“I’m confident he can do a good job, he’s a bigger kid, I think he can really do a good job in MotoGP – but for sure it’s going to take time to start to understand how everything works.”
That’s a view echoed by Ducati rider Jack Miller, who prior to Binder was the first and so far only rider to have previously made the switch from Moto3 directly to MotoGP, albeit having been runner-up by a mere two points in the Moto3 title race rather than mid-pack.
In fact, Miller is perhaps more enthusiastic than Binder’s big brother about this move, insisting that sometimes the chance to race in MotoGP only comes along once in a career – and that you have to grab it when it does.
“All power to him,” Miller said when asked about Binder’s chance by The Race.
“Sometimes the train only comes along once, and if you get the opportunity you take it because it doesn’t always come twice.
“If you get the opportunity, you get on it because a lot of people don’t get the chance to do this, to ride the fastest motorcycles in the world against the best riders in the world.
“If you get the opportunity, why not try and take it?
“And if anyone can do it, then Daz is it.
“He’s got that wild and outgoing style, he can ride a bike when it’s moving underneath him, and he’s had plenty more experience on a bigger bike than I had when I moved to MotoGP.
“Nothing can prepare you for one of these things, they’re that far right of the marker that you never know until you’re here – so you best just try and get here.”
The elder Binder’s KTM stablemates Miguel Oliveira and Iker Lecuona both pointed to the fact that the younger Binder’s debut would come on a Yamaha, a bike that has a reputation for being a good fit for newcomers.
But not every rider on the grid was as enthusiastic about the rapid promotion – with the traditionally outspoken Aleix Espargaro not afraid to mince his words when describing the “bizarre” promotion.
“This is a very strange situation,” admitted the Aprilia rider when quizzed by The Race, “and I agree that we should have a superlicence or something like this.
“I prefer not to comment so much because it’s not a situation that I can change, but I don’t really like it.
“I don’t really understand anything about this movement. It’s not that I don’t like it – I just can’t find a reason [for it]. It’s the most bizarre movement I’ve ever seen in my life!”
Binder will make his MotoGP debut on the Yamaha in November after the final round of the current season concludes, with a two-day official test scheduled for Jerez in the days that follow the last race.
