Darryn Binder and crew chief 'hungry', 'don’t want to let opportunity escape'

Darryn Binder, the first rider to move directly from Moto3 to MotoGP since Jack Miller in 2015, improved his lap time progressively during a mistake-free three days at the Sepang Shakedown test.

Riding for the new look RNF Yamaha team, the South African had closed to within half-a-second of top rookie Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati) on day two in Malaysia.

The gap to the fastest newcomer (Raul Fernandez, Tech3 KTM) then grew to 1.4s on the final day but RNF team manager Wilco Zeelenberg felt Binder was closer in terms of split times and had remained within his comfort zone.

"He has been riding three days here, no crashes whatsoever. That means a lot because he's under control. Especially from 2-4pm when it's very hot and the grip level is very low," Zeelenberg explained.

"He stayed on and he improved every day, so our aim is to stay with the rookie boys and coming from Moto3 this is always a big achievement.

"Yesterday he was very close with the boys, today all the rookies went a bit faster – also him - but he lost a little bit of the contact because he was not able to put all his best split times together in one lap.

"So for sure there is more inside him and we'll have another two days [at the Official Test]."

The Dutchman added: "Darryn's information and feedback from the bike is very clear, and the fact that he doesn't have experience [racing] on big bikes doesn't mean that he's not capable to ride a MotoGP bike otherwise we would not have him aboard.

"Also, it helps that he's not 18 or 19. He's 23. Already he has ridden big bikes [in training] and he has the style to ride a big bike, so that helps a lot.

"Now we need to support him to not make the small mistakes. Not push at the wrong moment, wait for riders and [lose temperature] in the brakes. These kind of things. It will happen but the less it happens the better! Because if you hurt yourself on these bikes, you will make a big jump backwards."

With former SRT rider Valentino Rossi taking several of his crew members to VR46 after retirement, Binder is paired with a 'rookie' MotoGP crew chief in the form of Noe Herrera, who helped guide Raul Fernandez to eight wins in Moto2 last season.

"I'm quite proud to have Noe on board because he's very experienced and very 'hungry'. He has a lot of knowledge, especially with the last two years in KTM with Aki [Ajo], he has my respect," Zeelenberg said.

"[Binder and Herrera] get along very well and Noe's very eager to perform in MotoGP. I can tell you the rider, but also Noe, they don’t want to let this opportunity escape. We expect a lot from them and so far what I can see is that they are both hungry and also enjoy working together a lot."

The last time Zeelenberg managed a rookie it was future world champion Fabio Quartararo, who made an instant impact with podiums and pole during Petronas SRT's inaugural 2019 season.

"Clearly Fabio was first of all younger [than Binder]. But also he had a very good early period, when he was 14-15 and was clearly better than anybody else," Zeelenberg said of a 2019-2022 comparison.

"Then he struggled a bit to find the way, going through teams, but as soon as we picked him up [for MotoGP] I knew he had the talent to do special things.

"Darryn's also very powerful and has a strong head and this is a bit the same combination as Fabio, they both have strong heads and they will always come back.

"The rough [raw] talent is I think a little bit different, but not so far apart, and that was the reason we took Darryn directly from Moto3 to MotoGP.

"We believed that we are able to guide him in the right way to be very competitive in the future in MotoGP. But saying that, with this level in MotoGP, it's a big task."

Binder – who is riding an A-spec M1 - will be back on track, alongside team-mate Andrea Dovizioso and the full 2022 grid, for the Official Sepang test on Saturday and Sunday.