Dani Pedrosa will run as a wild card in the next Spanish GP

Three-time world motorcycling champion Dani Pedrosa He will return at the age of 37 to compete in the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix that will be held in Jerez from April 28 to 30, as announced in a telematic press conference after the official presentation of the Red Bull KTM Factory team leader Francesco Guidotti.

“I received confirmation a few minutes ago that he will make a wildcard in Jerez”, commented Guidotti in his speech. “That shows how important Dani is to us. The contribution he can give us is quite high and we are trying to give him the opportunities to develop his full potential, both in tests and in the wildcards.”

“Jerez means a lot because it’s a popular place for our testing and he knows the area. It’s a perfect opportunity for him to get more information for the future development of our race bike and we looking forward to having him with us. in the box”, explained the Italian manager who is completing his second year at the helm of the KTM factory team.

Since 2019, turn 2 of the Jerez circuit has been named after Dani Pedrosa who won four races, in 2005 in 250cc and 2008, 2013 and 2017 in MotoGP for a total of 11 podiums.

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After spending his entire MotoGP career in the Repsol Honda range from 2005 to 2018 with 54 victories, 153 podiums and 49 pole positions to his credit, Dani Pedrosa began testing duties for the KTM factory during after his retirement that always leaves the door open for him to compete again if he so desires. That finally happened at the 2021 Styrian GP where he spent a weekend riding very competitive times. But Sunday was brilliant as he fell in the first corners of the extremely dangerous Red Bull Ring with the entire peloton on his wheel, miraculously avoiding it, but Lorenzo Savadori was unable to avoid hitting his motorcycle. The race restarted and despite the scare Pedrosa rose to 10th place.

Since then he did not compete again and exclusively focused on his tasks as a tester for KTM and the Lamborghini Super Trofeo where he competed with great taste on all four wheels. From February 5 to 7, he will take part in the Shakedown ahead of the Sepang test that opens the MotoGP 2023 preseason, where he will share KTM duties with Mika Kallio and new tester Jonas Folger.

“I’m glad he’s willing to go wildcard. Reading between the lines, I wouldn’t have done a wildcard if I thought the bike wasn’t competitive, so hopefully this gives us the right signal for that,” said KTM Motorsports Director Pit Bairer.

“Dani is a strong person, with a strong mind and we always tell him that if he wants to do a wildcard, we will be happy to do it. The perfect ‘test’ is always a racing situation. If possible we future pieces of progress, then It is very important and I am very happy that Dani is racing again”.