KTM have this morning confirmed that Dani Pedrosa will join them as MotoGP test rider next season on a two-year deal.

The move had been heavily rumoured since the tiny Spaniard announced his retirement from competition a few weeks ago.

“To have a rider of Dani’s skill and experience as part of our MotoGP project is another strong sign that we are moving in the right direction and we are still pushing as hard as we can,” said KTM motorsports director Pit Beirer.

“We have seen how competitive MotoGP is this year and how fractions of a second can sometimes hide real progress and valuable lessons.

“We hope – and we are very excited – that Dani’s input alongside Mika Kallio and feeding into the two teams we’ll have on the grid next year will really help to close the gap even further.

“I think we can feel very optimistic about our possibilities for the upcoming seasons. I’d like to thank the whole crew at the factory, all the strong effort at the races and for all those testing miles as we come close to the end of our second year.”