The FIM has issued a press release covering new sporting regulations for MotoGP in 2013.
This is the information in full…

The Grand Prix Commission, composed of Messrs. Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna, Chairman), Ignacio Verneda (FIM Executive Director, Sport), Herve Poncharal (IRTA) and Takanao Tsubouchi (MSMA) in the presence of Javier Alonso (Dorna) and Mike Trimby (IRTA, Secretary of the meeting), in a meeting held on 13 October in Motegi (Japan), decided the following:

Sporting Regulations

Effective immediately:
The “season” will now be defined as starting on the day after the final race of the year and finishing on the day of the final race of the following year.
The reason for this change is that some regulations currently refer to restrictions on activities in a “calendar year”. It is thought more relevant to determine that the new season starts with testing etc., immediately after the last race.
One effect of this change is that Manufacturers competing in the MotoGP class will now have to nominate their three designated testing circuits before the conclusion of the last race of the year.
Non-factory teams may now use a contracted rider or a non-contracted test rider, approved by Race Direction, to carry out testing using the “test tyre allocation”.

Effective 01 January 2013:
There will be a new procedure for grid qualification for the MotoGP Class.

New Procedure

1. The three existing sessions of free practice will be unchanged, however, the combined times from those sessions will determine participation in the final qualifying practice.
2. The ten fastest riders will be seeded through to Qualifying Practice 2 (QP2). 3. All other riders will take part in Qualifying Practice 1 (QP1).
4. The fastest two riders in QP1 will progress to QP2, making a total of 12 riders competing for the first 12 grid positions.
5. The riders not in the fastest two places in QP1 will take grid positions 13 and above according to their times in QP1.

New Practice Timings

Day One
• Free Practice 1 45 Minutes (Unchanged) Timed for Qualifying Practice Participation
• Free Practice 2 45 Minutes (Unchanged) Timed for Qualifying Practice Participation
Day Two – Morning
• Free Practice 3 45 Minutes (Unchanged) Timed for Qualifying Practice Participation

Day Two – Afternoon – New Schedule
• Free Practice 4 30 Minutes Not Timed for Qualifying Practice Participation
• Break 10 Minutes
• Qualifying Practice 1 15 minutes
• Break 10 Minutes
• Qualifying Practice 2 15 minutes

Source: FIM