Cal Crutchlow has praised new team-mate Takaaki Nakagami after the MotoGP rookie’s fine showing at the recent three-day test in Thailand, saying he is sure the current advice he is relaying across the LCR Honda garage won’t be needed for long.

Both men came away from the Chang International Circuit with reason for cheer: Crutchlow was the fastest man on Friday before finishing a highly competitive fourth overall, while Nakagami was eighth quickest on the final day, and the fastest rookie by 0.2s.

It wasn’t long before the Englishman picked up on Nakagami’s ability to carry speed through corners, stating both he and fellow Honda man Marc Marquez were laughing in near disbelief at the telemetry showing the Japanese rider's data.

“We have to start to praise Nakagami,” said Crutchlow on the final day of testing. “He’s a f***ing rocket. I already had previous information from the team, and Honda, from when he tested [at Jerez] two years ago he was fast. I knew what lap time he had done.

“Test by test he’s been very good. I’m just glad he’s hammered the other rookies. He’s not getting any tows from anyone. He did an 18-lap run alone. He did a 1m 30.8s in the last two laps. Sure, he used the tyre we’re not going to be able to race here, but who cares? The others could have done that, and they didn’t.

“He’s riding really well. His corner speed, honestly. Me and Marc laugh at how fast his corner speed is in some areas. He’s riding good. I’m pleased with how well he’s riding, his approach. His only problem is he does way too many laps on the first day and then he’s cracked by the end.

“It’s good to see. I try and help him as much as possible, but I have to say I don’t think he’s going to need my help.”

Contrary to ex-team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, Crutchlow went on to re-iterate his belief that the final classification at the Buriram test was a good indicator of who will be competitive through the year ahead.

Nakagami was one of those names, even if he was not as competitive on the tyre Michelin introduced from Saturday - a harder compound that was raced last year at the Red Bull Ring, and which several riders feel will be very similar to the rubber available for October’s inaugural Grand Prix of Thailand.

“I think the names are all the same, except for Taka. Taka was fast on every tyre we’ve used. The only one he wasn’t fast on was the tyre we’re going to race [here]. But he has no previous experience of it.

“We all know that tyre is not as good as the others, and we know how to ride it a bit better. But that doesn’t mean he’ll be slow when it comes to the race, because he’ll have learnt by then. I don’t think that’s the reason.

“It’s going to be way worse for us as riders because it’s going to be closer than previous years. We hate that. Sometimes of course we like the battle.”

Meanwhile, Crutchlow went on to express his wish that the ‘silly season’ will lead to several high profile names changing manufacturer.

“What I want to see next is some people putting their balls on the table and moving manufacturers. Jack did it and look at him. Lorenzo did it. It worked at some points last year and it’s going to work again this year.

“I think they should do it. It’d be good to see. There are a couple of seats available that could be really competitive. Some people could swap. We know the KTM is going to be there again. It could be an interesting year.”