Honda's reported move to hire KTM engine designer Kurt Trieb represents another spectacular flexing of muscle by the MotoGP sleeping giant, in line with fellow high-profile recruits like tech chief Romano Albesiano and test rider Aleix Espargaro.
The manufacturer's MotoGP programme has never lacked for pull and resource, but those two things did not prevent it from finding itself an also-ran for this ongoing multi-year stretch.
But hires like these going into a major regulations change are a bold message - one that should make it relatively obvious why a rider like Aprilia's Jorge Martin would entertain burning bridges (and risking legal action) with a better-performing manufacturer to get in on whatever is brewing at Honda.
It was reported by Italian outlet GPOne earlier this month that Honda was making a serious push for Trieb, and more recently Speedweek.com has written that Trieb-to-Honda is a done deal.
The ramifications for KTM are seismic if so. These are outside of the scope of this column - but one of the reasons for them being 'seismic' is that the KTM engine programme has thrived under Trieb.
The RC16 never became a consistent winner, but you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who would cite the KTM engine as a factor in this. In terms of top speed it has been the class standard for a while now, and though this will always come with trade-offs, KTM riders have hardly had a bad word to say about its V4.
But on Honda's end, its riders - Joan Mir in particular - have been very vocal about the current power deficit holding back the RC213V.
There is hardly a move more logical than Honda picking up Trieb - it'd be foolish not to try - but the fact its pursuit is being credibly reported as a success is what matters here.
As Honda moved to modernise and diversify its MotoGP programme, it struck out in its pursuit of Ducati genius Gigi Dall'Igna. But it took Albesiano from Aprilia as its consolation prize, was able to pick up Espargaro post-retirement - also from Aprilia, which would've liked to keep him - and is being tipped for a very substantial investment on a new MotoGP facility.
It's also backing its big signings, according to Espargaro, rather than wasting them through institutional rigidity like some may fear.
"When I arrived to Honda, everybody was saying to me 'ah, they don't listen, it's difficult to be part of Honda'," Espargaro recalled.
"I can understand this in the past - but for me it has been different. With the arrival of Romano and all the Japanese engineers that I face, everything that I ask for, they try.
"The bike that arrived at the beginning of the season has been completely different than the one they [the race riders] are racing right now, we've made like a puzzle.
"They [the engineers] listen a lot. They are super open. I feel really that I'm part of the project, and that they are making an effort to have also Romano on top. It's a matter of time."
The current RC213V's place in the MotoGP pecking order is unclear, but across Aragon-Mugello-Assen it was likely fifth of five. But fifth, fourth, third, second, sixth, 48th - it only matters right now insofar as being a predictor of how the 850cc Honda will go on Pirelli tyres in 2027.
Which... yes, it is a predictor. But is it really a better predictor than a hiring spree which hasn't yet had time to be truly tested - but one that now seemingly includes Trieb, the mastermind behind potentially the best engine in MotoGP?
"My feeling from the inside is that Honda is trying desperately to do anything it has to do to win again," Espargaro said. "But there is one thing you cannot buy, you cannot invent, which is time.
"With the new rules, the new tyre supplier, I think the time will be a little bit shorter - and it will be more in our favour."
Presumably, this is how Martin sees it, too. And if it's a leap of faith - it's hardly a huge one.
