Moto3 front runner Darryn Binder will leapfrog Moto2 for MotoGP in 2022, joining the newly streamlined RNF MotoGP Team on a Yamaha M1.

Binder will partner Andrea Dovizioso in the satellite Yamaha outfit, with an option for 2023 already on the table.

Following two years of riding in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, the South African started his full-time Moto3 class career in 2015. That year Binder became a well-known name thanks to his brother Brad, who went on to become the 2016 Moto3 Champion. However, Darryn has since long proven that he is an exceptional racing talent in his own right. Known for his hard racing and making use of any and every available gap during a race, the 23-year-old has ridden to six Moto3 podiums so far, including a win at the 2020 Catalan GP.

RNF Racing has also confirmed its title partner for the coming season, WITHU, creating the WITHU YAMAHA RNF MotoGP Team. The Italian brand, having already partnered with the previous incarnation since SRT’s introduction in 2018, has signed up to be title partner for three years.

“I‘m extremely grateful for this opportunity, as it has been a lifelong dream to race in the MotoGP category,” Binder said of his promotion. “I definitely didn‘t expect to make the jump straight from Moto3 to the highest class, but I do believe I‘m up for the challenge, and I‘m ready to put in all the hard work for 2022.



“My target at the beginning will be just to find my feet in the big class and learn as much as possible to get stronger and stronger throughout my rookie season.



“I would like to say a really big ’Thank you‘ to Yamaha and WITHU YAMAHA RNF MotoGP for everything they have done to make this possible, as well as everyone who has been involved in getting me to this point.



“I’m also really happy to keep having WITHU supporting the team because from the first day I entered the team I could see how enthusiastic they were in this project. I’m now just looking forward to riding the YAMAHA YZR-M1 for the first time at the end of the season.”

“I want to give a warm welcome to Darryn,” Lin Jarvis, Managing Director, Yamaha Motor Racing continued. “We are delighted that he is joining the Yamaha line-up next year.

“We‘ve had many conversations about who would be a good match for the new RNF MotoGP Team set-up. It‘s a fresh start for the Yamaha satellite team and that makes it all the more fitting to have a young and eager rider like Darryn join them, as Fabio and Franky did before him.

“For Yamaha the primary mission of the satellite team is developing future MotoGP talents. Darryn has already shown on numerous occasions what he‘s made of in the Moto3 class. We know he is a fast and determined rider who has got what it takes to battle at the front of the pack. Obviously, the step up to MotoGP is significant and will take some adjusting, but we feel that he‘s ready, and Yamaha and the RNF MotoGP Team will fully support him for this new and exciting challenge.”

“I’m really happy that finally the new WITHU YAMAHA RNF MotoGP team is official,” Andrea Dovizioso added. “It’s a team made up of three really professional parties and I’m really looking forward to start working with them for 2022. I’m so happy to have WITHU as the title partner of the team because Matteo is a really passionate person and it’s always nice to have this kind of motivation in a team.

“To have Darryn Binder as my teammate is something quite unique – not many riders have gone directly from Moto3 to MotoGP! I think the team have seen something interesting in him so I’m really interested too to see him on the MotoGP bike.”