WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Duo Picks up Official Test Work in Sepang

05-02-2022

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Duo Picks up Official Test Work in Sepang

WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team duo picks up official test work in Sepang.

Andrea Dovizioso and Darryn Binder got back in the saddle of their Yamaha YZR-M1 today in Malaysia.

Common hot and humid conditions welcomed the MotoGP World Championship at their return to the Sepang International Circuit for the first official day of testing in 2022, whereby the Withu Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team pair of Andrea Dovizioso and Darryn Binder kicked off and continued their pre-season preparations.

Following the winter break, Dovizioso eventually was back on track today trying his brand-new 2022 machine. The Italian did 60 laps around one of his favorite tracks and was happy not just to be back in action, but also to be back at the place where he celebrated two victories in the premier class already. He did a fastest lap of 2:00.342 minutes.

On his side, Binder already did his fourth full day of testing in Malaysia, after the rookie had the chance to fruitfully use three day so shakedown test earlier this week. The South African, who steps up from Moto3 to MotoGP directly this year, did further progress aboard the Yamaha YZR-M1 and clocked a personal best of 2:00.818 minutes today after 45 laps.

Before the WithU YAMAHA RNF MotoGP Team is heading over to the newly added Mandalika Circuit in Indonesia next week, they will have a second and final day of testing at the 5.543-kilometer venue to further explore the potential of bikes and riders in preparation of the 2022 season.

Andrea Dovizioso

"Today has been a very strange day. Everybody is stressed, because we have only two days here in Malaysia, so everyone is doing a lot of laps. We did the same and started with a good feeling this morning. We tried a lot of things, but unfortunately, it wasn't really clear which direction to take and I couldn't improve my feeling. I don't think today is the day to understand the real situation of everybody. I don't know how much the soft tyre can improve thins, because I didn't try and we don't have enough tires here to do all the comparisons of material we want, so it's pretty tricky to program the two days. But anyway, tomorrow we have to confirm something and try to be a bit faster."

Darryn Binder

"Today we finished the first day of the official test here in Sepang. we worked hard today, I was working in a lot of different areas and tried some different things compared to the shakedown test. The end result was very similar to the final day of the shakedown test, which I wish I could have improved a lot more. I felt like we worked quite a lot during the day and I thought this is really going to reflect at the end of the day, but anyway, this is testing. I felt a little bit faster step by step, especially with the used types. We will try again tomorrow and see what happens. We'll just keep on working, keep on trying to learn and slowly but surely understand how everything works and see in which direction to go."