The factory Honda squad has unveiled a largely unchanged Repsol livery on its 2018 RC213V at its official MotoGP launch event in Indonesia.
Honda come into the new season as reigning manufacturers' and teams' champions, while Marc Marquez fought hard with Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso for much of the season to secure his fourth premier class crown.
The Japanese manufacturer has enjoyed a promising pre-season phase so far, with double 2017 race winner Dani Pedrosa topping the recent Thailand test outright, while Marquez and the factory-backed Cal Crutchlow on the LCR Honda set the pace on Saturday and Friday.
Both Pedrosa and Marquez are currently in the final year of their contracts with HRC, though the latter recently stated Honda “has priority” when it comes to deciding his 2019 future amid rumours of a potential KTM switch.
The team also comes into the '18 campaign with a new team manager, after Livio Suppo – who had spearheaded HRC's MotoGP effort since 2013 – announced he would be leaving his role last November.
HRC confirmed former 500cc race winner with Honda and the company's talent development coach Alberto Puig would be taking over from Suppo early last month.
Honda will return to action at the Qatar test from March 1-3, before the 2018 season gets underway under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit two weeks later.
Discussion about this post