Paris (AFP)

Just officially retired, Spanish driver Jorge Lorenzo, three-time MotoGP world champion, will return to racing with a "wild card" at the Catalonia GP in early June, he announced on Instagram on Thursday.

After announcing in November that he was ending his career after a catastrophic season at Honda last year, the Mallorcan driver, 32, had then signed a test pilot contract for Yamaha, the brand with which he won its three world titles in 2010, 2012 and 2015.

It did not take long for him to be taken up by the demon of the competition since he will participate the week of June 7 in the 6th round of the Moto GP world championship on the Montmelo circuit near Barcelona.

The "wild card" system in force in MotoGP allows manufacturers entered in the championship to enter an additional machine three times a year at the start of a Grand Prix.

The Yamaha factory pilots this year are the Italian Valentino Rossi and the Spanish Maverick Vinales while the SRT satellite team hires the French Fabio Quartararo and the Italian Franco Morbidelli.

The start of the MotoGP season, originally scheduled for March 8, has been postponed to April 5 on the Austin circuit in the United States after the cancellation of the Qatar GP and the postponement of that of Thailand due to the new coronavirus epidemic.

© 2020 AFP