REPSOL Honda has just unveiled its 2013 MotoGP bike at Repsol's headquarters in Madrid.
The MotoGP team's riders, current world runner-up Dani Pedrosa and debutant Marc Márquez, revealed the latest Honda RC213V, with which they will compete in this season's 18 races.
The new livery omits the dark background of the 2012 scheme for a lighter, cleaner, modern look. The bike itself is an evolutionary design, with a bit more power and slightly more fuel-efficient than last year's machine.
Repsol chairman Antonio Brufau and executive vice-president of Honda Racing Corporation Shuhei Nakamoto also presented the new bike.Event attendees included Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta and president of the Royal Spanish Motorcycle Federation Ángel Viladoms.
Pedrosa said: “I am very happy to have been here at Campus Repsol today, and to have been the one unveiling the bike and its new livery. We'd run with the old design for a long time and I think that now is a good moment for a change. This year's bike has a fresh touch to it, which can give us a boost at the races. I hope the fans like it too. I'm starting this preseason really keen. I can't wait to get to Malaysia and to have a few days to put the bike through its paces, enjoy myself and see which parts we are going to use for the opening race, as in the Valencia test after the last race of 2012 we had so much rain that we couldn't do much.”
Marquez said: “I have really been looking forward to this moment. I am very happy to have presented the new colour scheme for my move up from Moto2 to MotoGP. Seeing the bike painted with the Repsol and HRC logos makes you feel very satisfied with this new step forward —it makes you realise what a dream-come-true it is. I'm like a kid with new shoes! I enjoyed the atmosphere of the presentation at Campus Repsol a lot, and I was able to see that the press attention for MotoGP is light years ahead of that for Moto2. We'll adapt to this, little-by-little. In the end, the important thing is what happens on the track, so I can't wait for the Malaysia tests to start."
Nor can we! Meanwhile, what do you think of this year's RC213V?
