Pedrosa to make second MotoGP appearance with KTM in 2023

The Spaniard raced in MotoGP full-time from 2006 to 2018 with Honda, winning 31 grands prix and finishing second in the championship on three occasions.

Pedrosa retired from full-time competition at the end of the 2018 season and signed for KTM as an official test rider.

He continually turned down wildcard opportunities until 2021, when he made his KTM race debut at the Styrian Grand Prix.

Despite being involved in a fiery crash with Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori which led to the race being stopped, Pedrosa was 10th in that Red Bull Ring outing.

He wouldn’t make another wildcard appearance until last month’s Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.

Pedrosa topped FP1 on the RC16 before qualifying sixth. He would finish there in the sprint before taking seventh in the grand prix.

Prior to the race, during the rider parade, Pedrosa received a rapturous reception from his home crowd and admitted later that he was almost in tears.

Pedrosa wanted the Jerez wildcard to be able to test the KTM in race conditions and was unsure after the Spanish GP whether he would make another appearance this year.

Dani Pedrosa, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: KTM Images

KTM has now confirmed that Pedrosa will field a third factory team RC16 at the San Marino GP at Misano on 8-10 September.

This is because on Monday there is the final in-season test of the 2023 season, which will mark the first time many manufacturers will publicly trial their 2024 prototypes.

KTM is permitted to field a wildcard three times across a season, which means Pedrosa could make yet another MotoGP start after Misano if he wanted.

This would most likely take place at the Valencia GP finale ahead of the first official day of testing for the 2024 season on the Tuesday after the grand prix.

As well as acting as a test rider for KTM since he retired from racing, Pedrosa has taken on television punditry and made several appearances is the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series in 2022.