Five wildcard moments worth remembering before MotoGP scraps the lot
MotoGP’s Grand Prix Commission has confirmed that wildcard entries are being scrapped from 2027. Under the current concessions system, teams are ranked A to D based on points scored over a set period, with lower-ranked manufacturers getting fewer testing restrictions and more wildcard slots. From next season, that’s all going in the bin.
Before it does, here are five wildcard appearances that are worth your time.
Katsuyuki Nakasuga – 2012 Valencia
The 2012 season finale in Valencia was the last race Casey Stoner ever started. It also happened to be the race a Yamaha test rider nobody was watching finished second. Nakasuga had made just one other appearance that season, started from 20th on the grid, and stayed out on slicks on a damp track when plenty of others would have blinked. He crossed the line more than 22 seconds clear of Stoner in third, behind only Dani Pedrosa. Not bad for a bloke most of the paddock had already written off before the lights went out.
Troy Bayliss – 2006 Valencia
Ducati needed someone to stand in for the injured Sete Gibernau at the 2006 season finale. They turned to Troy Bayliss — their World Superbike champion, a man who hadn’t touched a MotoGP bike in well over a year. He qualified second, then won the race ahead of Loris Capirossi and Nicky Hayden. Technically more injury cover than wildcard, but the result speaks for itself. A bloke fresh off a Superbike title campaign walks back into the premier class and wins. You can’t script that.
Akira Ryo – 2002 Suzuka
Valentino Rossi came to Suzuka to kickstart his 500cc title defence. He nearly had it made very uncomfortable indeed. Wildcard entry Akira Ryo shot from seventh to first on the opening lap and led for fifteen laps straight. Rossi finally got past on lap sixteen, Ryo nearly took it back on lap nineteen, and the pair scrapped the length of the race before Rossi eventually pulled clear to win by one and a half seconds. Ryo didn’t get the result, but he made one of the greatest riders of all time work properly hard for it on home soil.
Dani Pedrosa – 2023–2024, KTM
Pedrosa is already in the conversation for the best MotoGP rider never to win the premier class title. His wildcard outings for KTM only added to that reputation. A double P4 at Misano in 2023 – sprint and Grand Prix – was followed by a podium at the 2024 Jerez sprint. That third place came partly because Fabio Quartararo and several others collected tyre pressure penalties, but Pedrosa had to be there to benefit, and he was. At an age and stage in his career where most would’ve stayed in the test garage, he kept turning up and going quick.
Yamaha’s V4 – Misano 2025
This one isn’t about a result. It’s about a statement. Yamaha brought their new V4 engine to the 2025 San Marino Grand Prix with test rider Augusto Fernandez on board, and the whole exercise was about mileage rather than points. The bike reappeared at other rounds later in the year as Yamaha started laying the groundwork for their switch away from the inline-four. Results have been underwhelming so far, but with the move to 850cc engines coming, Yamaha needed the miles. The wildcard wasn’t the story – the engine underneath it was.
From 2027, none of this will be possible in the same way. Whether that’s progress or just tidier paperwork is another conversation entirely.
