As well as his British temperament and undoubted riding talent, Poncharal believes Toseland will be able to call upon the vast experience of the Tech 3 team, the full support of Yamaha and advice from team-mate Colin Edwards - also a former double WSBK champion but now with five years of MotoGP experience.

"The team knows Yamaha and the MotoGP class very well, and we've worked with a lot of riders, so I think we and James can help each other," said Herve. "Also James has Colin on his side. Colin is really taking his role as a rider and - I wouldn't say teacher, but anyway - Colin is trying his best to help everybody out, including James.

"Normally you have a big rivalry between the two team-mates. It's early days, but at present I don't think Colin sees James as a threat and just wants to help him. He is really trying everything he can to give him good advice and help him learn as quickly as possible.

"Colin has also had his first ride on the early 2008 prototype and is the only Michelin-Yamaha rider with experience of the MotoGP class. So Yamaha is using him a lot. This is good for the team because we have many guys in [the Tech 3 pit] who are normally more in the factory team.

"It is also good for James to see so many Japanese factory guys around him, because it means that they care and they trust him to do well," Poncharal concluded.