Dovizioso and Binder Count on Experience in Jerez

27-04-2022

Dovizioso and Binder Count on Experience in Jerez

The WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team is heading straight over to Spain in good spirits for the sixth round of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship.

Just a few days after the Portuguese Grand Prix, the entire MotoGP World Championship paddock is already preparing for the second European race, which takes place this weekend at the Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto in the South of Spain, where both WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team riders have already tested their Yamaha YZR-M1 machines last year.

After scoring his best result of the season so far with 11th in Portimao, Andrea Dovizioso is hungry for more. Although the Italian feels that his gap to the top is still quite huge, he comes to Jerez de la Frontera, with high hopes, having ridden his Yamaha YZR-M1 there last November and with some ideas in mind to improve on his deficits.

Yet, WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team’s premier class rookie Darryn Binder agrees on the fact that the pre-season test held at Jerez will help him to not start from scratch for the first time this year. The South African delivered a solid ride last time out in Portugal, although he was missing some more dry track time in order to feel even more comfortable on his new bike.

The first race weekend of the year in Central European Time, will commence this Friday at 09:55 with Free Practice one for the MotoGP class, followed by Free Practice two at 14:10 local time.

Andrea Dovizioso

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team

“Jerez is not the best track for me, but I expect to make a step there for me, because I think the bike works well there. Other than that, it’s good to go straight to Jerez after Portimao, because the speed was not there, but my feeling at the end of the race was a bit better. So it will be very important to make a step, because we need to be in the middle of the group and also start a bit further in front, because the position in the grid will always affect the race a lot.”

Darryn Binder

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team

“Jerez is a track, that I really like. I also got two days of testing there on the MotoGP bike at the end of last year. Even though, it was my first time riding a MotoGP bike, I get to at least go back there and have more or less of an idea. I’m really excited to come back to Jerez and also, we will have a test there on Monday. So as soon as the weekend is done and I can try and adapt things from whatever I have learned in order to make a step forward.”

Razlan Razali

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team, Founder and Team Principal

“Jerez is traditionally a good circuit for the Yamaha and is another important European track, where everybody is fast. We hope to continue our progress with Andrea. The ambition is to try to be inside the top 10 and be competitive. Darryn should be competing amongst the top rookies and try to maintain or improve on his second place in the rookies category. As a team, we are a couple of points behind the next independent team, so the target is to score as many points as possible in order to elevate the team’s position in the Independent Teams Championship.”

Wilco Zeelenberg

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team, Team Manager

“It’s interesting to see round six coming up, because we come to a race track, on which both riders have already been on these bikes. We have been testing there last winter. Everybody basically likes Jerez. Results-wise I’m curious to see if Darryn is able to use his circuit experience from Jerez with the MotoGP bike in a good way to continue to compete with the other rookies and to get more confidence with his bike. Andrea’s result in Portugal was P11, so we got some good points, but of course the distance to the race winner was still big and the target is for him to be better in the first half of the race and we are hopeful to do that in Jerez.”