Darryn Binder says his ‘dreams have come true’ as he gets set for his debut season in MotoGP as part of the WithU Yamaha RNF team.
Binder makes the jump from Moto3 straight to MotoGP for 2022, a task so far only completed by Jack Miller, but despite the big ask, he was adamant he didn’t think twice when the offer came in.
“I was so excited,” Binder said honestly. “I definitely didn’t ask ‘Why me?’ I just said ‘Thank you, I’m ready!’
“Obviously, for me it’s a dream come true,” he continued. “Everybody wants to race in MotoGP one day so to get given an opportunity like this, you can’t refuse it. It’s the greatest opportunity I’ve ever had in my life so I grabbed it with both hands. Obviously there was mixed feelings and lots of different comments and stuff but I mean, I would be stupid to not accept my life’s dream. I’ve worked towards this my whole life and if somebody gives you this opportunity, you need to take it and make the most of it. So for me, yeah, I’m super happy to be going up to MotoGP.
“It’s definitely a big risk to jump straight,” he explained on the task in front of him. “It’s not always about how fast you can get to MotoGP, it’s about how long you can stay there. That’s where you want to be. It’s the pinnacle of the sport, you want to get there and stay there for as long as possible. So it is a big risk but at the same time I could never reject this offer and it doesn’t really bother me.
“It’s been my dream my whole life to ride a MotoGP bike. It’s a lot of people’s dreams and there’s a lot of people that don’t ever get to live that dream so, I’m gonna go there and do my absolute best and as long as I know that I gave my absolute all. I believe in myself, that I have enough to do well. So yeah, I’m gonna go there and do what I can.
“Looking at other riders, like Jack had jumped straight and he’s made it work. Yes, it took a long time but very different circumstances for him. There’s been riders that have gone through Moto2 in one year and jumped and been good. It even gives me confidence when I look at Raul Fernandez. Yes, he came very strong at the end of Moto3 but up until those last couple of races he hadn’t done anything crazy and then he jumped in Moto2 and did amazing things.
“I’ve always felt that I suit a bigger bike better, that I struggled in Moto3 with my weight and size a little bit so I feel that I do suit a bigger bike and that I should be more comfortable on this bike.
“I’ve literally got everything I could ever ask for in a motorcycle. I’ve got all the tools. I just need to learn how to use them in the correct way. I believe that I can do that and I’ll be able to go fast.
“I think I understand why in my head,” Binder said when discussing why Team Principal Razlan Razali made him the offer. “I’ve got my perspective of it. From my side, the original plan was to come into Moto3 with Petronas and try and go all the way. That was the main goal, come in at Moto3, do good, go to Moto 2 and if I did well, go to MotoGP. Unfortunately, last year with everything that changed and everything that went on, obviously they believed in me before last year and then working with everyone last year I think that they really believed in me and that’s why they gave me this opportunity. I need to take it with both hands, make the most of it and hopefully prove that they were right in choosing me.”
While the WithU squad have put their trust in the 24-year-old, many were sceptical, and sometimes scathing, of the announcement. Binder is far from concerned.
“Obviously there’s people that say otherwise and whatever, I really don’t care. I don’t have any mental coach, I definitely don’t need one. I’m a perfectly happy person. I don’t entertain bullshit. I carry on like normal. I approach this season like I’d approach any season. Obviously, I’ve changed a couple of things regarding my training and I’ve had to step up a little bit in a couple of areas. But I did a normal offseason, I went home to South Africa. I’ve been training a little bit more in the gym than what I would normally but just approaching it like I would anything else. At the end of the day, it’s still a motorbike and it’s got two wheels, and I’ve got to ride it.
“I’m just gonna have to go out there and do my job,” he affirmed. “My job is to go out there and ride and do my best. Obviously I want to leave all the bad things behind and move forward on a clean slate but you know, that’s obviously difficult. I tried to do that last year and unfortunately, at the end of the year, I made a mistake and everybody just jumped back on the same bandwagon. I’m just gonna go and do my best, try and keep my nose clean and stay out of trouble. I hope that I can have good races and good battles with all the guys and whether they like me or not, doesn’t change anything for me.
“At the end of the day, it’s every man for himself out there. I talk to anyone who wants to speak to me, I’m not a fussy person. Everyone’s got different opinions and stuff so it really doesn’t bother me. I’m just gonna go out there and do my job at the end of the day.”
One thing the jump to the premier class brings for Binder is a little more flexibility in his diet and training lifestyle after seven years on lightweight machines.
“The first thing was I was able to eat a little bit of a happier lifestyle because I wasn’t too worried about my weight,” he admitted on his relaxed offseason. “Apart from that, when I got back to South Africa, I actually started a new training programme with a new trainer, just focusing a little bit more on the physical side. I wanted to gain a little bit of strength for the bigger bike, the heavier bike. So from that side, I’ve been doing a little bit more gym work than what I was used to and also just trying to train in the way to get the best performance out of myself possible and come into the season as strong as I can.
“I’ve been training on an R1, just trying to get used to a little bit of a heavier bike and get comfortable on a bigger machine. Obviously, an R1 is very far from the MotoGP bike but it’s the closest thing I could get my hands on. I really enjoyed it, I’ve really had a good offseason, I’m feeling really comfortable riding the bigger bike. I’m looking forward to getting back on my GP bike and at least I’ve got a couple days of testing. I’m just gonna take it step by step and keep trying to build on that.”
Not only will the young South African line up on 2021’s championship winning YZR-M1 for his maiden outing, he has the experienced Andrea Dovizioso on hand as teammate and his elder brother, Brad, a few garages down at KTM.
“If I’m looking for really good information on setup and things regarding MotoGP, I think the best person to speak to would definitely be Andrea because he’s in the same team as me on the same bike and he has a lot of experience,” Binder confirmed.
“Obviously my brother’s also there, I can speak to him but regarding settings and stuff, he’s on a completely different machine and what’s not working for me and what’s not working for him could be two completely different things. Overall, it’s nice to be able to speak to my brother about MotoGP in general. What he finds necessary, be careful with the tyre life and this and that and he’s found maybe this works for him. But I think from my side it would be much better to speak to Andrea as he is in the same box as me and I think our machines are quite similar, compared to me and my brother. I look forward to sharing the box with someone who has so much experience and I hope that I can learn a lot from him.”
Acknowledging how special it will be to line up against his brother on the 2022 MotoGP grid, Darryn was equally excited about the importance of beating him on track. It’s no longer a case of ‘the first person you have to beat is your teammate’.
“The first one is definitely my brother!” he joked. “At the end of the day, it’s bragging rights. We live together so on the way home if I beat him then at least I can brag on the way home and say ‘I beat you’. But one step at a time. Let’s get the first race out of the way but yeah, that’s definitely a goal.
“It’s gonna be really incredible to line up against my brother. We raced together a little bit back in South Africa when we were younger and then obviously, we spent two years together in Moto3, but when we were in Moto3 I was very new and I had a lot to learn and he was at his prime. He won the world championship in 2016 when we were together so the closest I ever came to racing near him was, he won, he got away from the field and I finished fourth. We haven’t really had a good dog fight so I’d love to be able to get to his level and be able to fight with him on track. I think it would be truly something special.”
