MotoGP | Here are the KTM wild cards: Pedrosa in Jerez, Pol Espargaro in Mugello

KTM will increase its commitment in MotoGP in the next Grands Prix of the 2024 season. The Mattighofen manufacturer, in fact, has announced that it will field Dani Pedrosa and Pol Espargaro as wild cards, respectively for the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez and the Grand Prix of Italy at Mugello.

The Austrian brand believes that these are the two ideal races to continue the development of the RC16, both for this season and in view of the 2025 season. It must be remembered that with the new concession system introduced this year, it will have six wild cards available , so it will be able to organize four more in addition to those already announced.

Pedrosa will return to racing where he thrilled 12 months ago. In fact, in his home race, in Jerez, he finished sixth in the Sprint and seventh in the long race. He then did better at Misano, where he even managed to place fourth in the long race, battling for the podium with world champion Pecco Bagnaia.

The 38-year-old retired from full-time Moto GP racing at the end of the 2018 season, but has since been a test rider for KTM, taking part in three Grands Prix. The first of these had been in Austria a few years, but on that occasion he had failed to leave his mark.

“Last year I had a lot of fun in Jerez and the welcome from the fans was fantastic. We all know that Jerez is a special place. It will also be important for us to use some references for our tests and insert them back into the racing environment This is the main reason to compete in 2024,” Dani said.

At Mugello it will instead be the turn of Espargaro, who this year began to take on the role of test driver, after a bad injury in Portimao had significantly affected his 2023 with the GasGas Tech3. For him it will therefore be the first wild card in this new role, which he took on by giving up the last year of his contract with Hervé Poncharal's team to make room for the rising star Pedro Acosta.

“I'm really happy to be racing again and especially at Mugello, which is a very special place to get on a MotoGP bike. It will be nice to be back on the grid with the guys. The tests went very well and I'm very motivated,” he said.” Polyccio”.

“After the injury in 2023 I'm back to what I once was. I can't wait to return to the MotoGP 'family' and demonstrate that our testing work is strong and fast,” he added.