Honda Racing Corporation vice-president Shuhei Nakamoto has threatened that the firm will pull out of MotoGP if a control ECU is forced upon them.

The Japanese re-iterated Honda's position that they use racing to develop systems for production and if MotoGP becomes a place where that is no longer possible, there is no point in them competing.

“Should MotoGP go for a control ECU, it's 99 per cent sure Honda will leave,” Nakamoto said “The reason why Honda goes grand prix racing is the need to develop technology – in in fact we think GPs are the best test bench for it.

“If the chance of developing is taken away, then Honda loses a very important reason - in fact a fundamental one - to justify spending all that money. Honda's position is not new, I said it other times and I wasn't joking. If Carmelo's objective is to stop development, then there's no reason for a manufacturer like Honda to carry on.”