Strong #CatalanGP race sees Darryn finish in twelfth place

 In NEWS

In front of 60.000 passionate fans, the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team was back in the points today at a scorching Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with Darryn Binder, who delivered an impressive 24 laps heat battle.

The South African came off strong start from P23 on the grid to make up seven positions in just the first sector and another two until the end of the first lap, which catapulted him to P14 early in the race. He made his way up to tenth but strong competition eventually placed him in P12 halfway through the race. From then on, he was fighting hard in a strong group with Jack Miller, fellow rookie Remy Gardner and Yamaha colleague Franco Morbidelli. He finished as second best Yamaha rider and second best rookie in 12th, just 0.438 seconds behind Gardner.

Following the back to back rounds in Mugello and Barcelona, it’s still not time to return home for the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team and the rest of the MotoGP grid, as the riders will have a chance to further work on their bikes and performances during an official day of test tomorrow at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

DARRYN BINDER

“It was a good race for me today. I knew that my Qualifying position yesterday didn’t really indicate what I was capable of. Anyway, I got off to quite a good start. I was a bit unsure during the race about how much to push in the beginning because I knew the tyre was going to wore off, but I wasn’t really sure about how much. I still had a really good race, I battled with some really big names that have achieved a lot, so I really enjoyed it a lot. Remy got the better of me on the last lap and I just didn’t have anything left to get back at him, but it was cool. Step by step I feel like I’m heading in the right direction. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s test to try to improve on the soft tyre for Qualifying to get a better starting position, which should make my life easier on a Sunday.”