“Legend” Dani Pedrosa “F**king fast, knows all the secrets!”

Pedrosa, who has the benefit of recent private KTM testing at the track, delighted the home fans by shooting to the top in opening practice, during his first official MotoGP appearance since Austria 2021.

Only the Aprilias of Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales were able to outpace Pedrosa’s time in the hotter afternoon session, putting the 31-time MotoGP race winner third on the combined timesheets.

While the 37-year-old was using some prototype parts, most obviously new aero upgrades, Red Bull KTM regular Jack Miller, the next best RC16 in fifth place on Friday, made clear:

“I don’t think the bike is the reason that Dani is doing so well. People forget he is a three-time world champion and runner-up three times in the MotoGP class. He is a Legend and has a corner on this f**king track named after him!

“People act surprised when he does well but he has been here testing, he has plenty of laps on the bike and there is a reason why he is an [official MotoGP] Legend.”

Team-mate Brad Binder, eleventh after technical issues in the afternoon, added:

“We knew Dani was going to be super fast of course. The guy’s probably won more races than the rest of the grid put together. So you know he’s special. Really impressive to see how well he did.”

Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez, whose brother Marc was team-mate to Pedrosa at Repsol Honda from 2013 until his full-time MotoGP retirement at the end of 2018, said he had been able to learn some lines from the #26.

“I know Dani, he was the team-mate of my brother for many years, and he's f**king fast here! He knows all the secrets. He picks up the bike in the perfect way. He's always on the [best] lines,” said Marquez.

“In Practice 2, with the first [new] tyre, I was exited from the pits with him and I was like nervous, ‘OK, let him pass or go in front, what do I do?!’ Then when we went back into the box I was trying to let him pass me, just to learn something.

“Because you learn always something [from him]. He can be slow [on an in-lap], but he's always on the line, so I learned something for Turn 8. He's the master there.

“I knew that if he decided to make a wild-card in Jerez it’s because he feels [fast]. But still, it’s impressive to see him in ’36.”

Marquez, who was eighth quickest on the combined Friday timesheets, added that Pedrosa could also be a contender in the main Sunday race.

“Still I need to check [timesheets] in a better way, but I think Aprilias have something more [today],” Marquez said. “Also I think Martin, Bezzecchi are fast. Maybe some KTMs and especially, if Sunday is super hot, in the long race, Dani can be there.”

Having secured direct Qualifying 2 access, Pedrosa is guaranteed to start the Sprint and Sunday race no lower than twelfth on the grid. Pedrosa took a tenth place finish on his only previous KTM wild-card, in Austria 2021.