KTM test rider Dani Pedrosa had not expected to contest the Spanish weekend again – Why the decision was made at short notice
The motorcycle world championship with its premier class MotoGP is making a guest appearance this weekend in Jerez de la Frontera in Spain. It is not the first European race this season, but it is the first in which several manufacturers are fielding wildcard starters alongside their regular riders.
Dani Pedrosa will be riding an additional RC16 for KTM. Last year, the three-time MotoGP vice world champion also completed his first wildcard outing of the season in Jerez. He impressed with P6 in the sprint and P7 in the Grand Prix. A little later in the year, Pedrosa even topped that. When he completed his second and final wildcard outing in Misano in 2023, he finished P4 on both race days.
It came as a surprise to Pedrosa that he would also line up again at the 2024 Jerez weekend, as he admits. “To be honest, I didn’t expect it, but it started to get interesting during the tests. That’s why we decided to compete here again,” said Pedrosa on Thursday, the media day for the Spanish Grand Prix.
When asked whether the “interesting” thing about the test rides was his speed, the prominent KTM test rider replied: “Well, when you’re alone on the track during test rides, it’s difficult to judge the pace. But we have a few parts that we want to test. These are parts for which it is important to test them in a competitive environment. Only then can we say whether we can cope with them or not.”
Thanks to the podium finishes of KTM factory rider Brad Binder (Lusail) and Tech3 GasGas rider Pedro Acosta (Portimao and Austin), KTM ranks second behind Ducati in the current 2024 MotoGP manufacturers’ standings. Will the RC16 become even more competitive thanks to the new parts that will be tested with Pedrosa this weekend?
“We will see. This year, almost everyone is around one and a half seconds faster than last year,” said the KTM test rider, referring to the lap times of the first three Grand Prix weekends of the 2024 season.
“Even when the track conditions are not perfect, such as in Portugal, lap records are being set everywhere. The race times are also much faster,” Pedrosa points out and says: “So we have to take that into account in the things we want to try out here. “
