Repsol Honda Team heads into 2013 with optimism and a strong belief of winning back the world title it last earned two years ago. For this season, the experience of Dani Pedrosa is coupled with the enthusiasm of Marc Márquez.

Honda’s all-Spanish line-up brings a mixture of wisdom and youthful eagerness, with Pedrosa striving for his first MotoGP™ title after winning six of last year’s final eight races en route to second overall behind Jorge Lorenzo. Márquez heads into the year as an underdog for the title, having dominated Moto2™ in 2012.

"After a long testing period I am now really ready to go racing!" Pedrosa says. "The team has worked hard to get us in the best place for the start of the season and I'm pleased with my physical situation. It's a long weekend in Qatar, with the schedule over four days, and the grip level takes some time to improve with the sand and conditions there. It will be interesting to see how the new qualifying format works and really looking forward to the race. I'm just excited to get the season started!"


Márquez’s off-season pace has been promising and the 20-year-old brings the knowledge of having won over half of the races he contested last season.

"We've had a good winter of testing and now it's time to go racing," he begins. "Qatar isn't one of my favourite tracks but I still enjoy it. There are many factors to consider there, with the sand from the desert which affects the grip and also the fact it's a night race. Also, as I saw in Jerez, everything is very different on the MotoGP bike compared to Moto2, so we will need some time. Let's see when we get there; for sure I will be nervous, going into my first MotoGP race, but I'm also excited."

Now departed from Honda is Casey Stoner, World Champion of 2007 and 2011, who has retired from MotoGP™ in order to spend more time with his family.

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