Pecco Bagnaia made these comments after the incident involving Darryn Binder in the Moto3 race of the Algarve Grand Prix, where the South African took title contender Dennis Foggia ahead on the last lap after overbraking.
Binder, younger brother Brad, will make his MotoGP debut in 2022 with the RNF Yamaha team, despite winning just one race in seven seasons in Moto3. The one from Potchefstroom has earned a reputation as an aggressive pilot, and is nicknamed Divebomb Darryn (bomber).
F1 has a super license system whereby each driver must have earned a certain number of points based on their results in the lower categories before being able to make the jump to the Grand Circus .
Asked for his opinion on the incident between Binder and Foggia, Bagnaia replied: “I think just like in car championships, we need a superlicence. Only if you do well in your championship can you go to the next level.”
“What we’ve seen is typical, because we’ve seen a lot of falls like this from him [Binder].”
“I know it’s not correct to say it about another rider, but this rider next year will be with us [in MotoGP] and I hope [an incident] doesn’t happen. But it’s something they have to think about, I think.”
Several riders agreed with Bagnaia’s proposal, although Valentino Rossi – who has previously criticized some Moto3 riders – does not believe that a super license would solve the fundamental problems in the small class.
“What happened in the race I think is not fun for Foggia, because finishing the championship like this is difficult,” Rossi said. “I don’t know if it’s a super license, but I think we have some drivers, like Binder for example, who are always very, very, very aggressive and sometimes they make some mistakes like this and it’s not fair to the others.”
Franco Morbidelli agreed that a super license could be an option, but stressed that not all great riders have great results in the lower categories, giving as an example that the 2021 MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo was signed by Petronas Yamaha in 2019 despite having won just once in Moto2.
Jack Miller, for his part, is also concerned that Binder will transfer this unnecessary aggressiveness to MotoGP, pointing out that all riders can make the mistake he made in the Moto3 race.
“What can I say? I did the same thing as Darryn [going straight up to MotoGP from Moto3],” recalled Miller.
“There could be mistakes, incidents happen. A contact is one thing, I understand that, but there has to be a safe margin.”
“I agree one hundred percent, what has happened in Moto3 has not been pleasant across the board, for Foggia, but also for Pedro [Acosta], because I think it detracts from what he has done this season as a rookie .” .
“I think he had a lot of room for the end of the race and this has taken away his chance to fight for his championship.”
“These things can happen, but am I nervous or worried? I don’t think so, because MotoGP is another level, I don’t think you have to worry about that.”
