KTM Factory Racing has confirmed Dani Pedrosa and Pol Espargaro will return to the MotoGP grid with wildcard appearances in the coming weeks.

The pair will join regular factory riders Brad Binder and Jack Miller on a third KTM RC16 at an event each with Pedrosa getting another outing on home soil at the Spanish MotoGP in Jerez, while Espargaro will be back in action for the Italian MotoGP at Mugello.

For Pedrosa, it marks his fourth start with KTM since joining the Austrian manufacturer’s development rider line-up upon retiring from full-time MotoGP racing at the end of 2018.

Competing around a circuit that even has a corner named after him, he will be looking to emulate last year’s competitive performance in front of his home crowd, Pedrosa finishing seventh in the full-length Grand Prix. He’d go on to produce a standout run to fourth at Misano later in the season.

“I had a lot of fun at Jerez last year and the welcome from the fans was amazing,” he said. “We all know Jerez is a special place. 

“For us it will also be important to use some references for our tests and put it into the race environment again. This is the main reason to compete in 2024.”

Espargaro, meanwhile, will get his chance at Mugello in what will be his first appearance since he was ousted from KTM’s satellite GasGas Tech3 team in favour of Pedro Acosta.

“Really happy to be racing again and especially at Mugello, which is a very special place to get on a MotoGP bike,” the former Tech3 Yamaha, KTM Factory and Repsol Honda rider added.

“It will be cool to be back on the grid with the guys. Testing has been going really well and I’m very motivated. 

“I am more like my ‘old self’ after the injury of 2023. I’m looking forward to being right back into the MotoGP ‘family’ and showing that our testing work is strong and fast.”