Lorenzo backs CRT

MotoGP commercial chief Carmelo Ezpeleta has openly admitted that he sees the new Claiming Rule Teams regulation - under which lower-budget bikes with an element of production technology are permitted - as the world championship's future, prompting criticism from Stoner.

But Lorenzo reckons Ezpeleta's plans are exactly what MotoGP needs.

"It's the only way," Lorenzo told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Ezpeleta's decision to lower costs is right."

Referring to Stoner's hint that he could retire if MotoGP bikes were no longer pure prototypes, Lorenzo said: "I won't [quit]. They will be slower and therefore safer.

"With the 1000cc bikes we'll approach 350 km/h, that's too much. 300 km/h would be enough. Spectacle is not a result of speed and technology, but of balance: people want overtaking and on-track fighting."

Speaking at the Wrooom event earlier this month, Ezpeleta emphasised his determination to put entertainment and cost-effectiveness ahead of technology in MotoGP's future.

"The basics of motorsport are the combination of entertainment and technology," he said. "In times of crisis, if we cut back on something, it must be in technology, not the entertainment, which both television and circuits pay for.

"I'm talking to the manufacturers and I think we will come to a conclusion in May as to how the championship will look from 2013."