Avoiding the treacherous damp patches had been key to KTM wild-card Dani Pedrosa riding from 16th to a shock top three - after a penalty for Fabio Quartararo - in the Jerez MotoGP Sprint race.

But the home hero’s luck ran out in Sunday’s grand prix, when he was caught🔜 out by a lingering damp patch when entering Turn 8 ꦑon lap 3.

“I made a good start and recovered some positions,”ꦜ said P❀edrosa, who was in twelfth place.

“I was hopeful of a good race and a good rhythm. For 𝓡some reason, I lost the front in Turn 8. 

"I was ꧒not pushing to the maximum there. Maybe it was because if you don’t take the perfect line then you hit a slippery spot.

“My aim was to make the top ten. Anyway, 💮we took some experience with the new bike, wh♍at it is capable of doing and ideas for the future direction of the development.

“We will also take away the atౠmosphere and the Spriꦯnt podium!”

Red Bull 🍰KTM te💜am manager Francesco Guidotti did not doubt the cause of Pedrosa’s exit.

“It was a shame he did not finish the race, but he hit one of the damp patches that was still there. Luckily, he is uninjureꩲd but a pity to close the weekend that way,𓆏” Guidotti said.

While further w💟ild-card entries are yet to be announced, Pedrosa has now made a total of 298 grand prix starts and told the official MotoGP podcast before the weekend that he would prefer the number 300…

Although the Sprint result doesn’t count, Pedrosa🌼’s current tally of 112 MotoGP podiums is also just two behind countryman anಌd great rival Jorge Lorenzo, with whom the #26 has agreed to a charity boxing match.

Pedrosa raced at Jerez and the🔴n Misano as a K༒TM wild-card last season, finishing fourth and a fraction from the podium in both races at the San Marino Grand Prix.

New KTM test rider Pol Espඣargaro will make his wild-card debut at Mugello in early June.