Interesting Opening Day for WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team in Germany

12-06-2022

Interesting Opening Day for WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team in Germany

While Darryn Binder got gradually used to the mostly left-hand circuit on Friday, Andrea Dovizioso was working on race pace.

Hot conditions welcomed riders and teams at the traditional Sachsenring Circuit in Germany for the 10th round of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship, which will see sold out grandstands throughout the weekend. Thereby, the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team duo of Darryn Binder and Andrea Dovizioso experienced an exciting Friday.

MotoGP rookie Binder was riding the German circuit for the first time today and clearly needed Free Practice one in the morning to get used to the 10 left corners of the unique track layout. But once he figured it out, he made a huge step from FP1 to FP2. The South African went 1.883 seconds faster in the afternoon to place himself in 19th position overall.

Meanwhile, Dovizioso registered a crash in the first session this morning, but went out again quickly to clock the eighth fastest time of the field and eventually finish FP1 well inside the top 10, just 0.251 seconds from the top. In FP2 the Italian focused on race pace and didn’t use a soft tyre for one fast lap. He concluded day one in P23, but seeing potential for Free Practice three tomorrow morning at 09:55 local time.

Darryn Binder

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team

“It’s been a good day, a good start to the weekend here in Sachsenring. I struggled a little bit this morning in FP1 to learn the Sachsenring Circuit on the MotoGP bike, but towards the end of FP1, I started to find my feet. In FP2, I feel like I made a couple of good steps forward. To finish the day just one second off the top is pretty decent. I’m quite happy with that. I know where to work on tomorrow and I hope we keep improving.”

Andrea Dovizioso

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Racing Team

“Today I did a different strategy than the other riders, as I stayed out with the used tyre until the end, so I didn’t do a single fast lap time in the afternoon. I don’t have the reference with the soft tyre yet, but with the hard tyre, the grip is very low. I’m not that fast, but I think, the base is better than some of the other races and after the practices of today, it’s clear, that we have to ride in a different way, because you can’t push at the beginning of the race and do 22.5s, as the tyre drops a lot. It was good to understand and now we’ll try to work in a better way tomorrow.”