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The last time Dani Pedrosa raced in MotoGP was in 2021, in the Styrian GP at the Red Bull Ring. After ending his racing career at the end of 2018, the Spaniard granted himself a wild card with KTM and did not do badly, finishing the race in 10th place.
He must have enjoyed the experience, because Pedrosa will also be at the start of the Spanish Grand Prix this year. This was confirmed by the KTM team manager Francesco Guidotti: "I had the confirmation a few minutes ago, this makes you understand how important Dani is to us".
Also because the Spanish test rider has expressed his availability even if required to replace one of the starting riders if needed and he's not the only one, because with 42 races (the 21 standard and the same number of Sprint Races) KTM prefers to keep the 'bench long'.
Guidotti explained it again on the sidelines of the Austrian manufacturer's season presentation: “Pedrosa said he was available in the event of a replacement, then he will evaluate it on a case-by-case basis depending on the needs, but we are also working with Folger so that he is ready in the eventuality. Jonas will be with us in Sepang for the Shakedown”.
The German rider had raced in MotoGP in 2017 on the Tech3 team Yamaha, but was forced to stop after being diagnosed with Gilbert's syndrome. In 2019 he was a test rider for the Iwata manufacturer, also doing a few races in Moto2. Last year, however, he took part in the SBK World Championship on the BMW of the Bonovo MGM team, without obtaining great results.
Now he is the third KTM tester, together with the aforementioned Pedrosa and Mika Kallio.
