Repsol Honda launches 2017 MotoGP bike

Honda factory team riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa were on-site to present the 2017 specification of Honda's RC213V, which features broadly the same livery as its predecessor.

“Now we are in a new season and the situation is the same one,” said reigning MotoGP champion Marquez. “We try to work hard in the pre-season and then of course to fight again for the title."

With pre-season testing having kicked off with an opening three days at Sepang earlier this week, preparations for Honda's coming campaign with the 2017 bike are well underway – and the Japanese marque didn't have the smoothest of runs at the Malaysian track.

As Ducati test rider Casey Stoner, Suzuki's Andrea Iannone and Yamaha's Maverick Vinales topped the three respective days of running, Marquez was hampered by technical problems – and conceded Honda's famous acceleration troubles were still present in the 2017 version.

He did eventually finish the test third overall in combined times, behind Vinales and Iannone.

Teammate Pedrosa had a similarly low-key start to the Sepang test, but moved up to fifth overall by the end, behind Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso.

"The target obviously is to fight for the championship and for every race if we can; to be in front and on a good pace," Pedrosa said. "Hopefully I can stay injury-free, which is important, and be fast every time."

In 2016, the pair combined for six grand prix victories, as Marquez won his third premier class title and Honda triumphed in the manufacturers' classification.

However, an end-of-season collarbone injury for Pedrosa allowed the Yamaha factory outfit to overtake Repsol Honda in the teams' standings.

Additional reporting by Scherazade Mulia Saraswati