The Spaniard returns to competition at the age of 35 after three seasons working as a tester for the Austrian brand since he hung up his overalls at the end of 2018, after 13 seasons at Repsol Honda, a team with which he achieved three runner-up finishes (2007 , 2010 and 2012) and 31 wins.
Since he joined the KTM testing structure, Pedrosa ‘s role has been described as fundamental in the growth of the prototypes of the Mattighofen brand, which in 2020 (Brno) premiered their record of victories at the hands of Brad Binder , who were later joined by those of Miguel Oliveira (three).
KTM’s wish was always for Pedrosa to be able to compete in a Grand Prix in order to obtain his direct testimony of the evolution of the bike, in race conditions.
Despite the initial refusal of the rider from Castellar del Vallès (Barcelona), the executives of the manufacturer of the orange motorcycles have managed to convince him otherwise.
“Little by little we have been improving and now it is interesting to see how the bike evolves in a different situation than a conventional test, because that gives you another perspective. My goal will be to test all the improvements incorporated throughout the race”, says Pedrosa in the official statement issued by KTM this Tuesday.
“It’s hard to say what my expectations will be after being away from racing for so long. It may quickly click and I’ll be in competition condition, or it may not, but what I’m going to try to do is enjoy the weekend as much as I can”, adds the Catalan.
“It will be very interesting to see Dani again in MotoGP. He has been away from racing for a long period of time, but it will be very useful to have him back in the garage, at the Red Bull Ring, to assess the RC16’s plus points and those that are not so much”, he assures, for his part, Mike Leitner , KTM team manager and former Pedrosa crew chief.
