Dani Pedrosa returned to riding a MotoGP machine for the first time in 2019 this week as he tested a KTM RC16 in order to evaluate his general fitness following surgey on his shoulder in January.
Pedrosa fractured his collarbone back in January during training, and underwent an operation involving stem cell treatment, which forced him into a recovery period of three months.
This ruled him out of riding in the first pre-season test of the year in Malaysia, and he had to abandon plans to return to action at the post-Spanish Grand Prix test at Jerez last Monday.
Pedrosa was not due to participate in KTM's private test at Jerez this week, but wanted to put some mileage on his shoulder to assess his fitness, and is expected to make his first official test outing at the post-race test in Barcelona next month.
"It was very positive and also quite exciting to see Dani riding at Mugello and able to make those laps. It means his shoulder recovery has gone well and he is almost ready to start his new job for us.," KTM boss and former crew chief to Pedrosa Mike Leitner said.
"We can all see how close MotoGP is in 2019 so far and how high the level is now, so to have Dani’s experience and his knowledge coming into the team and to the technicians back in the factory will only help us even more.”
Pedrosa retired from racing at the end of the 2018 season, having spent his entire career with Honda, notching up 31 wins in the premier class and three runner-up spots in the world championship on top of his 2003 125cc and double 250cc titles in 2004 and 2005.
The Spaniard had been courted by the Petronas SRT team to ride one of its customer Yamahas for 2019, and was rumoured to remain with HRC as its test rider after announcing his retirement from competition.
However, late last year Pedrosa revealed HRC top brass had rejected the idea of him testing its machinery due to his small size, and engaged in a verbal duel with Honda team manager Alberto Puig, who believed Pedrosa had not shown a desire to become world champion in his final campaigns for the Japanese marque.
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