Espargaro called time on his competitive motorcycling career at his home event of Catalunya earlier this year, after eight seasons with Aprilia, 13 in the premier class in total, and three race wins since 2022.

However, the 34-year-old stated he would be continuing on in a test role and revealed it would not be with Aprilia.

Now, his new employer has advised, “Honda Racing Corporation will bolster their testing program with the addition of Aleix Espargaro as a Test Rider in 2025.

“With close to 250 premier class starts, the 34-year-old brings with him a wealth of experience on Grand Prix machinery as well as the pedigree of three victories and over 1,300 MotoGP points.

“He will join HRC stalwart Stefan Bradl in continuing the development of the Honda RC213V.”

Honda joins KTM in having two high-profile test riders and, considering it is currently ‘Rank D’ for the worst performing manufacturers under MotoGP’s concessions system, it has the greatest testing and wildcard allowance.

It has not yet been confirmed whether or not Espargaro will race as a wildcard in 2025 although that would be a logical outcome given his greater contemporary experience relative to Bradl.

The German has not raced full-time since the 2016 season at, coincidentally, Gresini Aprilia, a year before his new team-mate linked with the Noale manufacturer.