Grand Finale for WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team in Valencia

01-11-2022

Grand Finale for WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team in Valencia

Darryn Binder and Cal Crutchlow are competing in the last round of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship this weekend.

The Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana is traditionally the ultimate round of the MotoGP season and this time a very special round for the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team. Darryn Binder and Cal Crutchlow, who came in place of Andrea Dovizioso for the final six races, will compete their farewell weekend in WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team colours. At the same time, the team is approaching the last dance with Yamaha and is preparing for more exciting news over the weekend.

Being a MotoGP rookie in 2022, Darryn Binder showed some great speed and fast adaptation throughout the entire season. Darryn was promoted direct from the Moto3 category to the premier class and until the final round, scored a total of 12 points, which gives him the third place in the intracanal rookies ranking. After he unfortunately crashed out at the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team’s home Grand Prix in Malaysia last time, the South African is targeting to collect some more points to finish off his first MotoGP season in style.

In the meantime, Cal Crutchlow arrives again without any pressure for the sixth round in 2022. The British Yamaha test rider saw the chequered flag in each of the five races so far and clinched a personal best of P12 at the Sepang International Circuit less than two weeks ago, already having a total of 10 championship points in his pocket. This weekend in Valencia, he will aim to further improve the Yamaha YZR-M1 and just enjoy himself before being back to focus fully on his role as a test rider.

Following four rounds in Asia and Australia, the MotoGP World Championship is back to normal European times this weekend. Therefore, Binder and Crutchlow will hit the track at 09:55 local time for Free Practice one on Friday, followed by FP2 at 14:10 local time.

Darryn Binder

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team

“I’m really excited to get to Valencia for the last round of the year. It’s been an up and down season, but I’ll try to finish it off as best as I can. I just want to enjoy the last race on a MotoGP bike for now. That’s my personal main goal; trying to finish the year off strong and just enjoy it.”

Cal Crutchlow

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team

“I’m looking forward to Valencia with the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team. We had some positive races so far and we hope to have another positive one in Valencia for the team and for Yamaha likewise. We have been working hard in Jerez with the 2023 bike for the future. Overall, we are looking to finish the season strong.”

Razlan Razali

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team, Founder and Team Principal

“Before you know it, it’s the last round of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship in Valencia. It has been a long, difficult and challenging season for the new team in the first year of RNF. However, I’m pleased that despite all the challenges, we are able to complete our first year. It hasn’t been easy on all fronts; on track performance, riders’ retirement, fighting for the last two places in the championship, which is not something that we were hoping for. But we are happy to get to where we are, knowing that next Tuesday we will embark on a new project with a new manufacturer and two new riders for the 2023 season with the first winter test. With the last race in Valencia, the best we can do again is to score some valuable points in order to pull away from Tech3 in the team’s standings and finish off the season as best as we can.

“I would like to say thank you to Darryn Binder for all that he has done. We are happy with his performance this year. It was a challenging one, he had quite some crashes, but also glimpses of good races, the best one in Mandalika, scoring some points in a number of races and sometimes being the second-best Yamaha rider. Coming from Moto3 to MotoGP is always difficult, but I think he has done himself and the team proud. Not to forget, we also wish Darryn the very best in his Moto2 rookie year and hope that with his experience from MotoGP he can be competitive there.

"We are also happy with Cal Crutchlow and would like to thank him for joining us for the last six races. Coming out of retirement, Cal has done remarkably well, he is quite a character. He still has some speed and we wish him the best for next year continuing to develop the Yamaha.

“I also like to say thank you to the crew for being with us through the most difficult times this year. Without them, there wouldn’t be a team. There’s one race to go and we will just do the best we can, be as professional as we can and before you know it, we’ll start our new project. A special mention must go to the extraordinary team of service providers and suppliers with the likes of Fast, Tecnove, Paul Sannen and Impeco to assist, support in time of need in providing the best service for a MotoGP team. Last but not least, we would like to thank all our sponsors for being with us in our first year. I know it’s not what they expected, but this is sports, you win some and you lose some, but we look forward to 2023.

“In Valencia, we’ll not just be competing in our last race, but there are some key announcements that we will make during the weekend. That just shows the positivity of the team for the future.”

Wilco Zeelenberg

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team, Team Manager

“As we all know Valencia will be a very demanding round, especially for us, because we are changing manufacturers before the test on Tuesday. Regarding our actual riders situation, I think we can be pleased with Cal’s results in the last couple of races, getting some points and showing good speed. Darryn struggles to stay on the bike basically, he clearly needs to work on his consistency to ride fast and at the same moment stay on the bike.

“Anyway, we have one round to go. Valencia is not a favorite circuit for most riders, to be honest, yet the weather forecast is always quite stressful, because it’s quite cold in the morning, it’s getting winter, which might end up in some trouble. Anyway, we are looking forward to Valencia finishing off in a good way. After these four flyaways, we’ve been home for a week, sleeping a lot, so we are rested and ready for the last round. We’ll work hard the final weeks of the year, also to prepare the 2023 season as best as possible. Having this in mind, Valencia will be very interesting for us.”