Elias had agreed a return to Honda Gresini, for whom he rode in 2006 and 2007 - when he took his first and so far only MotoGP race win in spectacularly style at Estoril.

The standout feature of the 2009 deal is a 'factory bike', although Honda has been known to have several different specifications of 'factory' machine - even within its official Repsol team.

Elias describes his 2009 machinery as a "near factory bike" and will have the level of support given to former Gresini rider Sete Gibernau, who finished title runner-up in 2003 and 2004.

"San Carlo Honda Gresini is a satellite team, but I have been told by the bosses that we will have same support as Gibernau in his day; a near-factory bike," said Elias.

That seems to confirm that Elias will have a pneumatic-valve '09 RC212V, rather than a 'factory' valve-spring machine as used late in the year by 2008 Gresini rider Shinya Nakano.

Either way, Elias expects much greater technical support than he had this season.

"We will see how things go, but I think that they will be a lot more straightforward than last year," the Spaniard declared.

Elias - who joined MotoGP in 2005 and has now ridden for Yamaha, Honda and Ducati - has never before raced with 'factory' machinery in the premier-class.

Elias will use a 2008 satellite bike during the final test of the year, at Jerez next week.