“I don't want to say they are custom-made but there is nothing of a ‘standard’ bike about it,” explains Chief Technician Christophe Bourguignon, affectionately called ‘Beefy’ by Crutchlow and crew in the now dormant pit garage at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. “Every part is expensive!”

“We lease these bikes but in the price you are also paying for the development and the engineers from HR,” the Frenchman explains of the initial outlay of a two-million ‘ballpark’ for a pair of race bikes. “We also use some of their tools and software. We have HRC staff with us every race and that is all part of the fee. It is an overall package. You could say ‘wow, that's a lot of money’ but there is a lot involved around it with the human resources.”

When things go wrong Crutchlow can often be spotted running trackside to grab a lift back to the pits while the Honda is retrieved from the gravel, sometimes in bits. Moments like this lead Beefy to call his staff into efficient action while exuberant team owner Cecchinello starts sweating.

“A crash can be between €15,000 and €100,000,” Christophe estimates. “A €2,000 crash does not exist in MotoGP. If we are lucky then we just have to change a few parts and we raid our stock in the race truck. A big one – or a few big ones in a row – can suddenly put you in trouble because we don't have five spare fuel tanks, for example.