Darryn Binder started the opening race at the Lusail International Circuit full of hope. But it was to be an indomitable tyre poker and a challenging battle to the line, which he crossed in eighteenth place.

The conditions in Qatar change significantly from day to night, making tyre selections difficult. With no practice time from the rainy Friday evening and only a short qualifying session on Saturday evening in similar conditions to the race, the riders and teams were left to gamble on which combination of tyres would work best over the race distance.

The German team, as well as many other well-known contenders and teams, opted for the hard front and rear tyres from Pirelli. As the race progressed, however, it became clear that this was not the ideal choice for the race under floodlights.

Darryn, who had made a good start to the first race weekend of the year, got off to a solid start and made up two positions on his rivals. The South African quickly noticed that his tyres were losing performance earlier than desired, so he tried with everything at his disposal to defend a possible top 10 result.

After the 26-year-old had managed to hold his own in the scramble at the start, he ultimately had to watch as he gradually lost ground and position after position. In the last of 18 laps, he also had to concede defeat to his new teammate. Thanks to his experience, Darryn knows how to categorize this nevertheless very instructive weekend and looks confidently to the next opportunity in just two weeks’ time.

Now it’s time to quickly put the Qatar disappointment behind and focus on the next round of the season at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Portimao, which is scheduled for the 22nd – 24th of March.

Darryn Binder
P18 – (+28.515)
Moto2 World Championship 2024 – P18 – 0 Points

“After only having a few days of testing and only being able to start the first race weekend with limited practice in the evening due to the rain on Friday, we opted for the hard front and rear tyres today in the hope that this would be the best for the entire race distance. So, we will analyze everything with the team and see what the other guys choose so we can improve our tyre choice next time. I had a good start and was in the front group, but after the first five laps, I really struggled for the rest of the race. So, it’s a very disappointing end to this weekend, especially after yesterday, because I felt I had found good speed and qualified for a good grid position. I improved a lot overall. It’s very disappointing. But it’s the first race we’ve gone into blind, and we have to learn from this and figure out things for the next race.”