Two MotoGP legends reunited at factory before Christmas break

MotoGP legends Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa were reunited at the KTM MotoGP factory.

Both were in Austria for pre-Christmas celebrations at KTM, where Dani Pedrosa has been test rider since 2019, and where Jorge Lorenzo will now be involved in the MotoGP project thanks to his newly forged professional links with Maverick Vinales, for whom 2026 will be his second season with the Tech3 KTM team.

Lorenzo has been brought into Vinales’ programme as a sort of rider coach, working with the man who replaced him at Yamaha in 2017 on aspects including physical and mental preparation.

The role means Lorenzo will have now worked with four of MotoGP’s five current manufacturers, having had spells during his riding career with Yamaha, Ducati, and finally Honda – only Aprilia now exists without having had any official influence from the five-time World Champion.

The Mallorcan also confessed to being impressed by what he saw on his visit to Mattighofen, writing in an Instagram post: “I found a very organized, united team with a winner mindset.

Now it’s time for us to show the great potential they have, with many podiums and victories in the future!”

KTM, which remains winless in MotoGP since Miguel Oliveira won the 2022 Thai Grand Prix, has recently become the first manufacturer to test its 2027 850cc prototype, Pol Espargaro taking on riding duties at a test in Jerez.

Whether Vinales will be one of KTM’s first-year 850cc pilots remains to be seen: both he and the Tech3 team are out of contract at KTM at the end of 2026, and so the futures of all three parties remain to be decided.