Fresh Start for WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team in Aragon

13-09-2022

Fresh Start for WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team in Aragon

Round 15 of the 2022 season will see Cal Crutchlow back in action alongside MotoGP rookie Darryn Binder.

Following an eventful San Marino Grand Prix, where the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team bid farewell to Andrea Dovizioso, who decided to retire after his home round, the Aragon Grand Prix this weekend will serve as a brand-new start for the international squad into the final third of the MotoGP World Championship 2022.

Last time out in Misano WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team’s Darryn Binder did a solid race. He started from P21 on the grid and was inside the points scoring positions for the majority of the round until he had to give up on his good rhythm in the final six laps. Throughout the two days test at the same venue, the South African MotoGP rookie and his crew have been working on this weak point in order to be ideally prepared for round 15 this weekend at the Motorland Aragon, which is close to Binder’s place of residence during the European season and therefore feels like a second home round to him.

On the other side, Cal Crutchlow will come back to competitive racing this weekend. The Yamaha test rider is jumping on board the YZR-M1 replacing Andrea Dovizioso. After the experienced Englishman did several tests throughout this year already, he feels prepped to come back, enjoy racing and above all, help Yamaha to further develop their bikes for the final six rounds of 2022.

The final weekend in Europe ahead of an exciting four rounds in Asia and Australia will kick off this Friday at 09.55 local time with Free Practice one, followed by the second Free Practice at 14:10 local time.

Darryn Binder

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team

“I’m really looking forward to the Aragon Grand Prix this weekend! We had some positives we found out during the test in Misano, so I can’t wait to get to Aragon to see if we can adapt these improvements there and further improve our feeling on the bike. Motorland Aragon is a circuit, that I’ve always enjoyed riding on, so I’m looking forward to do the race there!”

Cal Crutchlow

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team

“First of all, I’m looking forward to join the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team again after a couple of races with the team last year. I know a lot of the staff from my previous years racing. It will be good to be back with them for the last six races, starting in Aragon, which is a circuit, that I know well from the years racing in MotoGP. It’s been a year since I’ve been competing in the premier class, so it’s always fun to come back. I’m sure it will be difficult to come back and be competitive, but that doesn’t mean we won’t give a 100% to be that. I believe with the spirit of the team and with Yamaha we can make some good fun, first and foremost and hopefully some good results, too, enjoy ourselves as a team and seal out the year in a good manner.”

Razlan Razali

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team, Founder and Team Principal

“This week beginning with Aragon the whole championship will embark on the triple header of flyaways with Aragon, Japan and Thailand. We look forward to return to Motegi and Buriram, as we haven’t been there the last two years due to the pandemic. It will be very interesting for everybody, especially the rookies, including Darryn. Of course, the highlight after Andrea’s emotional retirement last weekend is the return out of retirement for Cal Crutchlow.

“We welcome him back! I’m sure his experience will be good for the entire crew, hopefully earning some points for the team and try to be a guidance for Darryn and of course to continue the development of the M1 for Yamaha in the future. It’s going to be long three weeks for the team, but we really look forward to it and we can’t wait to get it started!”

Wilco Zeelenberg

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team, Team Manager

“Aragon is the last round ahead of our four oversea races, which is quite critical for the team to be ready for the long flyaways. Aragon is not really a favorite for the Yamaha, because of the very long straights. Of course, saying that, we also have been performing there in the past, but most likely, it’s going to be tricky. Anyway, we have Cal coming over out of retirement, so we are very interested to see what he learned with the Yamaha in the last two years, as he has been testing quite a lot. We’ll also have Silvano (Galbusera) on board as his crew chief. I know him for many years already, so I’m curious to see how they work closely together.

“For Darryn it will be again a new track on the M1. He needs to learn it in a few practices and try to do a similar thing like in Misano, because there he was pretty good. He did 20 laps in the 1:33’s and was performing quite well. In the last six laps he struggled, so he needs to focus on that, what we did during the test in order to have a better performing M1 at the end of the race. In the test, he was consistently faster and could control the bike better. Therefore, I can’t wait to see if we can use that setup in Aragon and we’re all impatient to start this exciting final third of the 2022 season.”