Darryn Binder “was a victim” of RNF’s Yamaha MotoGP split for 2023

The younger of the Binder brothers was promoted straight from Moto3 to MotoGP for 2022 with the new RNF Yamaha satellite team, with the South African bringing backing with him.

RNF – formerly Petronas SRT – elected to split with Yamaha for 2023 having been unable to secure a longer-term deal with the Japanese marque, and will become Aprilia’s first satellite squad next year.

Binder, who was 24th out of the 26 riders to have scored in 2022 with 12 points on his year-old M1, was seen as a “gamble” by RNF but one it hoped to develop into a second year.

However, in an exclusive interview with Autosport, Razali claims Binder lost out on a seat for 2023 over Raul Fernandez and five-time race winner Miguel Oliveira because he was contracted directly with Yamaha.

“Darryn’s promotion to MotoGP was a gamble, a risk for both us and him,” Razali said.

“But the plan was a long-term programme. It’s not for him to come this year and become Fabio [Quartararo] – nowhere close, that’s impossible.

“But we thought he had what it takes. And to some extent he did show he had the ability to ride the MotoGP bike, but he was still learning.

“But you can’t do much in one year, so the plan was to continue with Yamaha for multiple years and to continue with him.

“Unfortunately, he was contracted with Yamaha.

“If he was contracted with us and we switched to Aprilia, we would have honoured that agreement.

Darryn Binder, RNF MotoGP Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“But unfortunately, the situation with Yamaha did not continue and he is a victim in that sense.

“But what he has done is really good, but again what can you expect from him after coming up from Moto3?”

Razali says Binder didn’t get any “real development” on his 2021-spec Yamaha, but believes “for a rookie it [the bike] was good enough”.

RNF endured a turbulent 2022 in its first year as a new entity, with Andrea Dovizioso retiring after the San Marino GP, while title sponsor WithU elected to quit for 2023.

However, RNF has secured title backing from crypto company CryptoDATA, which sponsored this year’s Austrian Grand Prix.