It’s over 7,000 miles from Potchefstroom in South Africa to the Principality of Andorra. And in a small house among the 7,990 inhabitants of this tiny state on the Iberian Peninsula, Moto2 World Championship competitor Darryn Binder was packing his kit bag for this weekend’s MotoGP Austrian GP at the Red Bull Ring. South African-born LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto2 team rider Binder plans to use the GP to quickly move up the hotly contested Moto2 points table.
“Yes, I’m really looking forward to Austria,” said Binder. “The first half of the season was pretty tough. We were only able to get some speed out of it once or twice, so it was a really difficult start to the year. We’re back now after the summer break, we went to England last week and had a really good ride. After the England race we also tested in Aragon on Thursday and it was really positive. I have high hopes for Austria and hope to have a strong second half of the year.”
After a somewhat sluggish and inconsistent first half of the Moto2 season, in which Binder’s best result was a sixth place at the British Grand Prix, he explained how difficult it can be to gain any kind of performance advantage in the Moto2 standings.
“It’s a number of things that make Moto2 so competitive,” he said. “This year we switched to Pirelli tyres and went from Öhlins to WP suspension. It just took us quite a long time to understand both things. It was one thing to understand the tyres and then we had to get the suspension right. Every race we pushed a little bit but I feel like there’s a very fine line between feeling good and a little bit of a slip-up. Everything is so tight in Moto2 at the moment, if you’re just a little bit off you really seem to be struggling. It looked a lot worse than the first half of the year. I knew that once we got something clicking we would be good. It’s always just these little things and you just have to tune them so I really feel like if we keep going like this we can have a strong end to the year.”
Silverstone gave Binder his best result so far this year on the Speed Triple 765 cc, 160 hp Kalex.
“I had a really good ride at Silverstone,” said Binder. “Unfortunately we made a little mistake in the setup for qualifying. I started 18th and managed to get through and fight for the podium. So I’m really optimistic for the next round in Austria. Getting a lead in Moto2 is so difficult. I mean, we’ve had it this year, we were 0.03s down and I’m 18th and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Jesus Christ, I just can’t be lucky. 0.03s is nothing.’ Yeah, it seems to be going well and if I can just keep building on that now, hopefully we can start fighting for a decent position.”
In his tenth year as a Grand Prix racer, having competed in MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 throughout his career, Binder finds many positives in the intermediate class of the sport.
“I really enjoy Moto2,” said Binder. “It’s just cool. First of all, everyone has the same engine; 90 percent of us ride the same frame. I mean, it’s just so close. There are so many good riders in Moto2. You really have to make the difference because there’s only so much you can do with the bike. Once you get a handle on it, you really have to do something special to make the difference. It’s a really cool class. I mean, there’s no electronics or anything. It’s really about saving the tire, finding the right setup and riding as hard as you can.”
Austria is entering the second phase of the 2024 Moto2 season and Binder has a master plan for it.
“I’m just going to try and repeat what I did on the last lap, you know? The most important thing is to get straight into Q2 on Saturday so you’re definitely in the top 18 on the grid. The higher up you are, the easier the race is. If I can fight for a podium at the front, I’ll fight. On the days I’m struggling, I’ll just try to get as close to the front as possible and get some good points for the championship for the last part of the season. I just want to keep improving at every race.”
Binder has not yet managed to finish first in his two years in the Moto2 series, but hopes and plans to do so in the second half of the 2024 season.
“You always go into the race with the mindset to win. So yeah, I think our first step is we need to try and get on the box and then hopefully we can fight for a win from there,” he said. “That would be great.”
Binder, who was plagued by a series of injuries throughout 2023 and returned to form during the 2024 season, is happy with his physicality in this demanding sport.
“Yeah, I’ve been good this year. Knock on wood. So far, so good. Everything’s healed well and I’m finally back to my old self. I’m feeling fit again. Training is going well,” he said. “In the second half of the year we have a lot of overseas races which I really enjoy. We leave Europe and go to Asia and stuff. I really enjoy these away races. They’re a bit different. The guys I race against race these tracks all the time in Europe and when we go to these away races it always adds a bit of variety to things.”
Binder and his older brother Brad, who rides for KTM in the top MotoGP class, enjoy the travel around the globe that comes with being a world-class racing driver.
“It’s great to do what we do,” smiled Binder. “I owe a lot to my parents for bringing us here and letting us live our dream. It was really hard in the beginning. There were a lot of sacrifices. I’m still just living my dream and doing what I love. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Although he is happy in Moto2 after spending a year with Yamaha in the top class MotoGP in 2022, Binder plans to return to the grid of the premier class as soon as possible.
“100 percent, that’s definitely the goal,” said Binder, packing a helmet bag for his trip to Austria. “I have to find my way in Moto2 and have a solid season with some good results, and then hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to move back up to MotoGP.”
