Honda reveals 2013 MotoGP contender

Dubbed the RC213V, the bike was revealed at Repsol's Madrid headquarters.

2013 marks the 19th year of the Japanese marque's partnership with the oil giant.

HRC executive vice president Shuhei Nakamoto confirmed the bike was not a radical redesign but rather an evolution of the model that it brought to Laguna Seca mid-way through last year's championship.

Although Jorge Lorenzo captured the 2012 riders' title, Honda easily beat Yamaha in the constructors' race.

It had also claimed the championship in 2011, ending a run of four straight years of defeats in the teams' standings.

Suppo named team principal

Livio Suppo has been announced as Honda Racing's new MotoGP team principal during the official presentation of the squad's 2013 bike.

Suppo is the first European to hold the position at Honda.

He helped mastermind Ducati's MotoGP project and signed a 21-year-old Stoner to the Italian squad in his title-winning year of 2007.

He then switched to HRC as communications and marketing director in 2010, and was influential in bringing Stoner across to Honda for the start of 2011.

HRC has also appointed Takeo Yokoyama as its new technical director, working under Suppo.