Crutchlow, who replaces Ben Spies in the Monster Yamaha Tech 3, is stepping up to premier class racing following a successful year in World Superbikes.

The former World Supersport Champion impressed Yamaha top brass with his 2010 performances, which included six pole positions and three race wins in his first year of WSB competition. Now the Coventry-born rider is eyeing up success in MotoGP but is going into the series with realistic expectations:

“MotoGP is the pinnacle of racing, the fastest guys in the world are there with the best machinery in the world, so when I got given the opportunity I thought-why not take it?”

Crutchlow tested Yamaha's M1 racer at Japan and then Valencia last month, and admitted switching from production-based WSB racers to cutting-edge MotoGP machines was a big step:

“The difference between them is night and day. It is like driving your usual road car, and then switching straight to a Formula 1 car - it is that vast.

“Those first tests of the bike were just about riding, to be honest,” he said. “I had to go out there, get some laps under my belt and try to learn a MotoGP bike, because it is very different to anything I have ridden before. I’m looking forward to the challenge, and hopefully I can keep it up over the winter.

“I’m going in there with open eyes. Learning the tracks and the bike will be difficult but that’s the job you’ve got to do in MotoGP.”