Crutchlow: You could ride old Yamahas with ‘one hand’ - not now

But the Englishman, replacing the retired Andrea Dovizioso at RNF Yamaha for six rounds, will still be riding for seven of the last eight weeks of the season by bolting back to Jerez in-between Sepang and the Valencia finale.

That outing will be on the latest version of the 2023 Yamaha prototype, which will then be handed to race riders Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli for the Valencia post-race test.

“It was nice to get a week off,” Crutchlow said. “I was supposed to do eight weekends in a row and now I'm doing seven. I have a test after Malaysia, but it’s irrelevant to this year. It’s the ‘23 bike again.

“We’ll see how we get on. I think we can improve that bike in some areas and then it's time for me to sort of hand it over to the other [race] guys and get their feeling.

“They've only ridden it once and that was on a track with so much grip, there's no problem. We found at other circuits, there are more problems, let's say, but also more positives.”

‘You could ride the 2012-13 Yamahas with one hand on the handlebar’

Quartararo and Morbidelli gave glowing reviews after trying a first version of the much-needed 2023 M1 engine upgrade at Misano last month.

But triple MotoGP race winner Crutchlow, who has been leading track development of the new machine, believes rideability shouldn’t be overlooked.

“What they wanted was more power and more [top] speed and they've got it. But I don't think that is the be-all and end-all,” he explained.

“To me, it's the rideability of the bike. When I used to ride the bike in 2012-13, you could ride the bike with one hand on the handlebar half the time. And now it's impossible to do that.

“I think they need to make the bike more rideable, more stable and I have one big idea to be able to do that. But that's not easy to convince them to do. Because it’s not a small thing.

“On the other hand, the bike this year, which is essentially last year’s as well, is a good bike that’s still leading the championship by two points.

“The problem is it's not good for everybody else - it's good for Fabio. So let’s see.”

Crutchlow added: “I'm very optimistic about what they're going to bring. They're working hard. Honestly, I've never seen Yamaha have to work this hard, for a start, and I've never seen Yamaha actually do it.

“So I'm positive. We need to iron out some areas but I believe that will be more in [time for] Malaysia [in February].”

Crutchlow: ‘Adrenaline the best thing’ for injured foot

After scoring points in Aragon and Motegi, Crutchlow – like the other Yamaha riders – struggled with a suspected case of high tyre pressure on his way to 17th in the wet Buriram race.

The 36-year-old, winner at Phillip Island in 2016 and on the podium in 2019, returns carrying fresh injuries to the right ankle he smashed at the Australian circuit in 2018, after a huge practice highside in Thailand.

“Really sore,” he said. “The surgeon that did the operation [in 2018] is coming this weekend and the hospital will compare [new X rays] parallel to the ones from the operation etc.

“We think that the bruising has been inflaming the soft tissue and the nerve because if I even push in some areas of my foot, it’s so sore.

“But I had a good 20 hours on the bicycle last week, so it's not like I can't do anything.

“If I move it in a certain way, it's so painful, but nothing’s badly damaged, because I was concerned the plate had moved or something. But luckily it's OK.

“We’ll see this weekend when the bike is shaking at 300 and… I was going to say 350 k an hour, but ours will be about 320!

“But adrenaline is the best thing for it. The race weekend in Buriram my ankle was fine, it was really swollen, but I had no pain from it. It was after that I had the pain.”

Weather forecasts predict substantial rain on Friday, with a risk of showers and cold weather continuing for Saturday and Sunday.

“I expect it's going to be tough conditions tomorrow and a tough race weekend. You've got to manage the situation as best you can,” Crutchlow said.

“There's a lot to play for this weekend, with the guys at the front championship, so it could be a strange race, but I'm looking forward to it. It's a special circuit and a difficult circuit, with how fast it is and also now because of all the ride-height devices and aero.

“We'll see what the weather brings first and foremost, because the weather can affect whether you go 2 seconds a lap faster or 2 seconds a lap slower here, because activating the tyres is difficult.”