German Heat Battle Delivers Rows 7 and 8 for WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Duo

18-06-2022

German Heat Battle Delivers Rows 7 and 8 for WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Duo

Andrea Dovizioso qualified in 19th position, while Darryn Binder is rounding out the field at the Sachsenring Circuit.

With temperatures rising above 30 degrees Celsius, the conditions have been tough from the morning of day two at the Sachsenring in Germany. Yet, Andrea Dovizioso and Darryn Binder could benefit from the second day of action, trying several things in FP3 and FP4 and then battling with the hot weather in Qualifying early afternoon.

Following his eighth position in Free Practice one on Friday, Dovizioso was unable to be quicker in FP2, but he lowered his lap time in this morning’s third Free Practice by an impressive 1.071 seconds. In hotter conditions during this afternoon’s Qualifying one, he nearly matched his pace from this morning, yet he missed out on the top two by just 0.365 seconds to end up in P9, which means he’ll line up in row seven tomorrow on the grid.

At the same time, Binder, went 0.417 seconds faster in FP3 compared to his personal fastest lap on Friday. In hot Qualifying he likewise struggled to reach the same times again and concluded the short decisive session in 13th position, clocking the same lap time like his fellow rookie Raul Fernandez and will have to fight is way up once again come race time on Sunday at 14:00 local time.

Andrea Dovizioso

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team

“It was difficult as it always has been for me on this track. My second run in Free Practice four with the used tyre was quite good because I’m not that far from the second group. This doesn’t mean I have the possibility to race there all the time, but I’m not that far. We made some changes and it worked. In Qualifying I couldn’t make a special lap, but I was always struggling at this track. 19th in the end is not good, but that was the time that was in our capacities. The race will be very difficult, because it’s very hot and we stay always on the left. The rider who manages the tyres better, will be more competitive at the end of the race. It’s not going to be easy to start in the back, but we will work on it.”

Darryn Binder

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team

“I made a nice step forward this morning in Free Practice three and could close the gap a bit to the front guys, so I was quite happy with that. FP4 went ok, we just went out and got a feeling for the race tyres and stuff tomorrow. Unfortunately, in the Qualifying, on my first run, I never got the greatest lap together and then on the second run, I just made a couple too many mistakes, never managed to put one good lap together and I’m pretty disappointed about my result. I felt like I could have done a lot better. Anyway, the race is tomorrow and I’ll try my best.”