Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta feels that the first season of the inaugural CRT MotoGP class wa🥃s 'a big success'.

The privateer 'Claiming Rule Team' regulations were brought in to boost flagging grid numbers and reduce MotoGP's reliance on ☂official manufacturer entries, in decline due to soaring costs.

Without CRT there would have been just twelve entries in last year's world championship, but the cut-price Superbike-powered machines have faced criticism from both inside 🃏and outside of the MotoGP paddock due to a lack of competitiveness.

CRT machines are allowed more fuel and engine changes to help them compete with the official bikಌes from Hon🌳da, Yamaha and Ducati.

The 🌞best of the CRT entries 💙- usually the Aspar-run Aprilias of Aleix Espargaro and Randy de Puniet - regularly threatened the slowest of the manufacturer bikes, but the main manufacturer pack remained well out of reach in normal conditions.

However a drying track at the Valencia finale saw CRT history made when Espargaro led the f𒅌irst two laps of the race, which also ended with Gresini's Michele Pirro claiming the CRT's top result so far of fifth place.

"In our opinion CRT has been a big success for 2012," Ezpeleta told the official MotoGP website. "I know ꦜ[it was] in wet conditions... but in any case, a CRT was leading t🔯he Valencia Grand Prix."

Ezpeleta, like HRC vice presඣident Sh🔴uhei Nakamoto, believes that the true difference between CRT and a full manufacturer MotoGP prototype would only be known if a top MotoGP rider gave it a try.

The likes of Colin Edwards and Randy de Puniet have p🌊reviously claimed podiums in MotoGP, but a race winner is yet to sign up for CRT (Ch꧒ris Vermeulen made a one-off appearance).

"Theoretically the riders that are using the CRT are not the top riders, and I want to see... though this is impossible... if any of the top riders would use a CRT, I don't know how big the difference would b🐠e," said Ezpeleta.

With one season under their belt, the CRTs will be expected to close the performance gap in 2013, when Bridgestone will also offer a softer rear tyre for the CRTs and some teams will run the new Magneti Marelli ECU, compꦅulsory from 2014.

"This season they will ha🍌ve some improvement in the tyres, but also we will develop to♐gether with Marelli and some of them the new ECU that will be compulsory in 2014 for the non-factory teams. This gives us a big expectation."

This year's 24-rider premier-class grid will see an equal split between manufacturer and CRT entries, the privateer ranks swelling by three more machines relative to 2012.

Honda and Yamaha are expected to offer CRT specification machinery - a complete bike and engine supply respectively - from the 2014 season, when t🌟he fuel difference between manufacturer and CRT entries will increase to fouꦅr litres.