Binder has emerged as the leading candidate for one of the two vacant SRT Yamahas for the next season, the younger brother of two-time MotoGP race winner Brad Binder, who will be promoted straight out of SRT’s Moto3 team.
This comes after Maverick Vinales’ early retirement from the Yamaha factory team for 2022, which sees current SRT rider Franco Morbidelli being promoted to the Spaniard’s place, while Valentino Rossi’s resignation announcement has resulted in SRT having to find two new riders.
His first choice was star Moto2 rookie Raul Fernandez – who took his fourth win in his first season at the Austrian Grand Prix last Sunday – but the Spaniard has signed a two-year KTM deal with Tech3.
Rossi’s protégé Marco Bezzecchi was the next best option, but the young Italian will now make his MotoGP debut in 2022 with the VR46 Ducati team.
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With options already tight, Petronas’ decision to end SRT’s title sponsorship in 2022 – as first reported by Motorsport.com – only complicated matters for SRT.
With a limited budget to attract big names, SRT must find alternative solutions to fill its vacant Yamahas in 2022.
Moto3 rider Binder has proven to be a strong competitor in the last few weeks. Motorsport.com can now confirm that the South African will test a Yamaha R1 Superbike at the former Czech Grand Prix venue Brno on Tuesday.
SRT has confirmed that it will announce its plans for 2022 during the British GP this coming weekend. If Binder is signed by SRT for 2022, he will be the first rider to make the jump from Moto3 to MotoGP since Jack Miller in 2015.
Binder is currently in sixth place in the Moto3 drivers’ championship 2021, around 110 points behind the runaway leader and rookie sensation Pedro Acosta.
A number of names have been linked to the second SRT bike for 2022, with team Xavi Vierge and Jake Dixon’s Moto2 line-up in the frame.
Brit Dixon has also been linked with SRT for his MotoGP debut at Silverstone next weekend should Yamaha decide not to use Vinales again after trying to blow up his bike’s engine at the Styrian GP last week and test driver Cal Crutchlow to blow up his place in the factory squad.
SRT is expected to have two B-spec Yamahas in 2022 as part of its new agreement with the Japanese brand, having enjoyed full factory support for one side of its garage for the past two years (Fabio Quartararo in 2020 and Rossi this season).
The Malaysian team will also end their Moto2 and Moto3 teams in late 2021.