Three-time MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo will return to competitive action at June’s Catalan Grand Prix, coming out of retirement for a wildcard appearance.
Lorenzo competed in MotoGP from 2008 through 2019, taking titles in 2010, 2012 and 2015, but announced his retirement at the end of last year.
However he remained affiliated with the championship by taking up a test rider role with Yamaha and participated in pre-season running at Sepang earlier this year.
On Thursday it was revealed that Lorenzo will return to the grid at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya aboard Yamaha’s YZR-M1.
Lorenzo made his MotoGP debut with Yamaha in 2008 and enjoyed his greatest success for the manufacturer, prior to leaving for Ducati after 2016.
Lorenzo endured a fraught first year with Ducati but claimed victories in 2018, by which time the relationship had soured, prompting him to switch to Honda for 2019.
But the Spaniard’s final campaign was riddled by injuries and a sequence of sub-par performances, and Lorenzo opted to retire halfway through his initial two-year deal.
Yamaha’s factory squad has already confirmed Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo as its 2021 rider line-up.
