Dani Pedrosa appears set to make his MotoGP race return later this year with KTM scheming a wildcard outing.

Pedrosa rode for Honda for 13 years in the premier class between 2006 and 2018, winning 31 races, before joining KTM in a test role in 2019.

In the first 12 of those campaigns, the 35-year-old finished in the championship’s top six.

A wildcard race for KTM is now looming, according to KTM motorsport director Pit Beirer.

“We will definitely see Dani this year,” Beirer told German publication Speedweek.

“We will eventually do a wildcard with him as soon as we think the package for 2022 is ready for it.

“We want Dani to come back to a GP circuit, nevertheless the final decision rests with Dani Pedrosa himself.

“He has to tell us if he wants to expose himself to the pressure and stress of a GP weekend again, but he told us he wanted to do it.

“We would not have pushed him in that direction, he apparently wants to compete with the other MotoGP guys again.

“However we have not yet agreed on a fixed point in the GP calendar for which this race should take place.

“I expect Dani to say at some point in the next two or three tests ‘Hey, the new bike and I would be ready, I would like to ride a wildcard now’.”

KTM will have four bikes in the MotoGP race tonight at Assen, with Miguel Oliveira the marque’s highest placed starter in sixth.