Update: Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta has now admitted the rule is under discussion by the GP Commission after denying it at Silverstone.
Moto2 wunderkind Marc Marquez has reportedly already signed for the Repsol Honda MotoGP team and will ride alongside Dani Pedrosa in 2013 after teams were told at Silverstone the rule which bans rookies from going directly into factory teams would be dropped at the next Grand Prix Commission meeting at Assen.
The rule was introduced to stop the top four (now three) squads from harvesting the best riders and leaving satellite teams with the relative chaff. The first man to fall foul of it was Ben Spies, who went to Tech3 for a year before taking his - some would say rightful - place in the Factory Yamaha squad.
With the global economy now in a worse state than it has been in living memory, riders new to the MotoGP class will now be allowed in to factory teams as there are far fewer opportunities because there are now less prototypes on the grid.
When quizzed by the stout chaps at motomatters.com, IRTA boss Mike Trimby said exactly this and added the rule had outlived its usefulness with only five satellite bikes on the grid this year compared to nine in 2010.
