The rebranded RNF team caused a stir when it announced it would be bringing Binder – younger brother of double MotoGP race winner Brad – directly from Petronas SRT in Moto3 to its MotoGP squad this season.
Binder spent seven seasons in Moto3 and only scored one race win, while his MotoGP promotion was heavily scrutinised when he was involved in a collision during the penultimate round with Dennis Foggia which helped decide the 2021 Moto3 title in Pedro Acosta’s favour.
When RNF was previously Petronas SRT in 2019, it similarly raised eyebrows when it signed Quartararo – who himself had only one grand prix win (the 2018 Catalan Moto2 GP) to his credit before his MotoGP signing.
Quartararo did, however, turn heads in his pre-GP career, and subsequently went on to replace Valentino Rossi at the factory Yamaha squad – with whom he won the MotoGP title last year.
Speaking about Binder’s signing ahead of pre-season testing in Malaysia this weekend, Zeelenberg drew comparisons between Quartararo and the South African.
“Fabio was younger [than Binder] when we got him, but he had had quite a bit of success at a young age,” Zeelenberg said.
“At 14, he was way better than any other rider.
“He then went through a difficult phase and quickly lost track of teams. We picked him up because he had the talent to do special things.
“It is the same with Darryn. He is very strong and has a really good head, and I recognise that from Fabio as well.
“You don’t throw a guy like that away easily and that’s why we brought him from Moto3 to MotoGP.
“It’s a little different in terms of pure talent, but the differences aren’t that big. We believe we can help him in the right way to have a competitive future in MotoGP.
“It’s too early to draw conclusions, but it’s a big challenge to get him to that point.”
Binder completed three days of running at Sepang this week in the shakedown ahead of the official test, managing a best time of 2m00.928s on his 2021-spec Yamaha.
Fastest during the shakedown was Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales with a 1m58.942s, with the leading rookie Raul Fernandez on the Tech3 KTM with a 1m59.468s.
