The Repsol Honda MotoGP team has unveiled a largely unchanged livery for its 2019 challenger at the squad's official season launch in Madrid on Wednesday.
This season marks 25 years since Repsol became title sponsor for the works Honda squad in the premier class, with the now-familiar orange and white paint scheme for the new season unveiled on last year's RC213V.
For the first time since 1989, Honda will field two World Champions, with reigning five-time World Champion Marc Marquez now joined by three-time MotoGP title winner Jorge Lorenzo.
Both Marquez and Lorenzo come into the new year recovering from injury, with the latter ruled out of the upcoming Sepang test in February after fracturing his scaphoid last weekend.
“Being in this team means fighting for the victories, wins, podiums, championships, because if not it’s failure,” Marquez, who has spent the winter recovering from a collarbone injury, said.
“You can talk about dream team or whatever, but it’s results that’s important, and I hope we can celebrate something beautiful at the end of the year.”
Lorenzo added: “I'm just great, and I feel these colours really fit me. They are beautiful colours with a lot of history, with many championships behind them.
“To sum it up, it's a different level. I believe I have been lucky to be in other teams with a lot of history, they are also winners, but to come to this Repsol Honda team, it's a new level in every sense.
“You can see in the presentation, the amount of media here, the expectation. In terms of the technical aspect, when we got to Valencia I saw so many people in the box listening to what I had to say about the bike, and small details, the precision of every part of the motorcycle.
“The quality is another level, and this is a dream for any rider in this team. I arrive here a little late, I am 31 years old, but I am mature enough to take advantage of all of this experience.”
As a result of his recent wrist surgery, Lorenzo will be absent from the upcoming Sepang test at the start of February, but is expected to return to action two weeks later for the Qatar test.
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