Currently, the four non-concession manufacturers (Honda, Ducati, Yamaha and Suzuki) must use the same engine design throughout each season, but can then introduce a new spec at the opening round of the following year. All riders are allowed a maximum of two fairing designs per season.

KTM and Aprilia are currently exempt from the in-season engine freeze and so might have the chance to gain more ground on the 'big four' due to an extended freeze, but:

"They won't use it, I believe. On paper, the Concession rule might not change but I'm pretty sure it will be the least of their worries," Poncharal explained. "Right now, the question is not how to spend more money, I think for every manufacturer the target will be to save their company.

"More development means spending more money. Nobody wants to spend money now. Everybody wants to freeze everything we can and 'hibernate' for a while. Use as little energy as possible to keep the heart beating."

The biggest fear with any development freeze is that bike spec will be locked at a stage where one manufacturer has a clear advantage or where big performance gaps exist throughout the field.

Fortunately for MotoGP, there has rarely been a better time to freeze the grid, with the top 18 riders covered by just 0.972s at the end of pre-season testing.

"Freezing the spec doesn't hurt the show, because we have incredible bikes for this year," Poncharal said. "During testing in Malaysia and Qatar the lap times were unbelievably close.

"So we don’t need to spend on that department because we have incredibly high-tech, high-performance bikes already. Let's keep them like this."

Although MotoGP is yet to hold its first race of the year, the 2020 engine spec was homologated remotely on March 25, when digital drawings of each team's first fairing designs were also submitted.

Chassis and electronics are not currently covered by any development freeze.