KTM has a plan for Dani Pedrosa

No one doubts Dani Pedrosa He was one of the stars of the final 2023 MotoGP World Championship with his brilliant performances in both the Spanish GP and the San Marino GP where he had a shot at the podium in the Sprint race. Retired at the end of the 2018 campaign after a full career with Honda, he offered himself to the golden wing firm to start a new phase as a tester, without the stress of competition. He received no from his usual home and ended up saying yes to any boss he had on the track both in 250cc and in his best years at Repsol Honda in MotoGP, Mike Leitner, then in charge of KTM’s MotoGP project . The Austrian coach no longer led the project, which became bigger and stronger, but Dani Pedrosa It’s now one of the key pieces in KTM’s development, loved and respected in equal measure.

After the victory in September at Misano with two fourth places, and he missed the podium in the Sprint due to excessive caution not interfering with the battle for the title between Martín and Bagnaia, Pedrosa He has ruled out the option to make the final wild card in 2023 and is more likely to become an official driver again. But KTM has plans for him for 2024 and one of them is to mentor rookie Acosta.

that’s it Pedro Acosta He was called to mark an era, witnessed by the fact that in just three seasons in the Motorcycle World Championship he has already won two titles and at KTM they do not want to lose that diamond in the rough that they have supported since he was announced who is the champion of the Red Bull Rookies Cup in 2020 and after winning two small category crowns dressed as Red Bull KTM Ajo. Acosta He has a contract for one year although with certain conditions and they need to keep him happy and want him to continue with them because this is going to be one of the most sought after pieces of the ‘market’ that is about to boil over.

“There is no doubt that it has great potential and we will try to help with everything we can,” said Dani Pedrosa in one of the last interventions in 2023 as a DAZN commentator. He was already seen coaching him in the Cheste test, where Dani didn’t wear the suit, and in the Sepang shakedown help was on track, as Acosta himself revealed this Saturday.

AND Pedrosa He didn’t make it easy for the rookie because in addition to fine-tuning the KTM so that from February 6 to 8 everything was perfect for the beginners Binder and Miller, he was always in the top-5 of the fastest riders. in the world. test: “Today I tried to follow Dani Pedrosa a little bit, and it was not that easy!” Acosta exclaimed after setting the best shakedown time.

And for fans wondering if they’ll ever see Dani Pedrosa race in MotoGP again, good news. Because KTM’s plan is for the six wildcards they have for the 2024 campaign to be shared by Dani Pedrosa and Pol Espargaró.

Last monday Pit BeirerKTM’s sporting director, admitted in a telematic press conference that “we will share the wildcards. Right now, we don’t plan to do six. We want to be very flexible and use the wildcards where it makes sense. There are some hints that are interesting, and Dani should definitely wildcard there (rumored to be one of the four Spanish GGPPs). Of course, there was talk that we would give all six wildcards to Pol, but nothing really agreement. , because it has meaning for him. project, above all.