Breaking records and taking names; Darryn Binder is here to stay. In a historic move for motorcycle racing’s big league, the 24 year old South African has signed to the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team and becomes only the second rider in the sport’s history to make the giant leap from the junior ranks of Moto3 straight to MotoGP.
Graduating through the field, Binder has raced in Moto3 since 2015, and despite a difficult debut season, Darryn’s speed and style was immediately apparent. In 2016, he bagged a fourth-place finish at the Australian Grand Prix, and the following season - in 2017 - made solid progress despite injury – taking top 10s, points finishes, and a best finish of fourth at the Italian Grand Prix.
In 2018, Darryn scored his first Moto3 podium at the Japanese Grand Prix, following an edge-of-the-seat race with rivals Dennis Foggia and Tony Arbolino. A switch to CIP Green Power came in 2019, where Darryn bagged his second Moto3 podium at the Argentinean Grand Prix, and in 2020 DiveBomb kicked things up again by securing victory at the Catalan Grand Prix, as well as second place at the Aragon Grand Prix.
2021 then saw Darryn make the move to Petronas Sprinta Racing. Starting the season as one of the title favorites, Darryn kicked off his campaign with a second and third-place finish in Losail. However his height and weight dragged him down on the small Moto3 machines, and despite being a constant feature at the head of the field, Binder couldn’t mount a title challenge.
With a perfect combination of raw pace, youth and experience, Binder now treads where few have gone before, swapping his familiar 250cc machine for fire spitting MotoGP machinery. Read on to grab his initial thoughts for the season ahead…
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