Dani Pedrosa surprised by his speed

Dani Pedrosa retired from active MotoGP racing some time ago, but this weekend in Jerez he is competing as a wildcard rider for the KTM team.

After Friday's free practice, thanks to the fast lap of the first practice, he held the third fastest time, which places him in the fastest ten, which is guaranteed to appear in the last part of the qualification.

"The feeling was incredible," he said. "Also for the team, but also for the fans. I didn't expect that kind of speed, so I was really surprised."

This year we already saw the victory of a KTM racer in the sprint race, when Brad Binder won from the fifteenth starting position in Argentina. But Pedrosa does not want to predict the results, in his first sprint test of his career. "I can't even dream. We have to talk with the team about many details and find out how the format works, what the starting procedure is like."

Regardless of what the races bring, the Spaniard, who made his last appearance in the MotoGP race at the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix after saying goodbye to the role of regular racer in 2018, is enjoying performing in front of his home crowd at a track where one of the bends (bend no. 6) bears his name.

"It's an incredibly good feeling. Especially on this exceptional track, with excellent competitors who raised the level of racing to a very high level. Because of them, you have to be completely focused at all times.

We had a good start to the weekend in the morning, but in the afternoon we had some problems with the track conditions. The laps were slower due to the heat or the wind, so it was difficult to improve on the morning times. Some have succeeded, but I am happy that we are in the top ten. Something new awaits us on Saturday, as the qualifications are in the morning. This is not such an easy task for racers," he added.