Last weekend, the curtain finally came down on another year of racing. To describe the 2020 season as unconventional would be a gross understatement.
It was never doubted that racing during a pandemic would throw the riders, teams, and fans some major curveballs, but nobody could have predicted the season that followed. With nine different winners in 13 races, the championship was never short on surprises – one of the biggest being the riders who have thrived and those who have disappointed.
Biggest Winners
Joan Mir
Undoubtedly the biggest winner of this season is Suzuki rider Joan Mir. The Spaniard surprisingly secured the world title in Valencia with still a race to go. At only 22 years old and in his second season in the premier class, there were very few bets on Mir taking the title. He had a solid first season in 2019, but he had by no means been the standout rookie of the year.
Two crashes in the first three rounds meant he also had a slow start to 2020. But his consistency after this was unmatched. He went on to take seven podiums and finally his maiden MotoGP victory only one week before securing the title. Mir’s road to the championship has been unconventional, but completely deserving. He was the most intelligent and consistent rider all year. But most importantly, he was the only rider that coped with the pressures of such a demanding season.
Alex Rins
Team-mate to world champion Mir, Alex Rins is another ride who has shown some great race craft this season. Yet, his start to 2020 was far from ideal. A painful fracture dislocation in his right shoulder meant he underperformed in the first half of the year, but he came back fighting in the latter stages of the season. An impressive ride in Aragon saw him hold off Alex Marquez to take his first victory in 2020, and his consistent results continued.
Finishing third in the standings and aiding Suzuki in winning the teams championship, Rins has expressed his delight at how the season has gone. Suzuki are looking highly competitive and it will be interesting to see whether they can continue this form in 2021.
Miguel Oliveira
Miguel Oliveira is one of the only riders this year to take multiple GP victories and his dominant win in Portugal meant he finished the season on an incredible high. Taking nothing away from his great successes, it does however reflect the wider progress that KTM has made. The Austrian manufacturer is no stranger to success in both Motocross and the lower classes, but their MotoGP project is still relatively new. Having made their premier class debut in 2017, producing a bike that can challenge the likes of Honda and Yamaha in such a short space of time is impressive. This year saw both KTM teams combined achieve eight podiums which included three wins. Whether KTM and its riders such as Oliveira can continue this progress 2021 is highly anticipated.
Biggest Losers
Marc Marquez
Since his phenomenal rookie season in 2013, Marc Marquez has been almost undefeatable. With an impressive six world titles, the Spaniard was the obvious choice this year. His erratic yet entertaining riding style has led him to pull of some stunning saves in recent years, but even Marquez is not superhuman.
A nasty crash at the opening round in Jerez put him out with a broken arm. A brave yet probably overambitious attempt to return to riding only a week after the injury meant he had to undergo a second surgery, for which recovery was a lot slower. As a result, he has been unable to compete this year. It is unknown whether he will return to dominate the field in 2021.
Fabio Quartararo
It was difficult to watch Fabio Quartararo’s season fall apart. After an impressive rookie season in 2019, it was hoped that he would be the person to take the fight to Marquez. In January, Yamaha announced that the Frenchman would move from the satellite to the factory team in 2021. He was also set to receive a full factory works Yamaha to support his championship hopes this season.
The speed he had shown at pre-season testing manifested into big early successes when racing finally got underway in July. Yet after dominating the opening two rounds in Jerez, his championship hopes slowly slipped away. Front brake problems, a lack of rear tire grip, and a lot of errors have plagued his year. It can only be hoped that he uses the winter break to recharge and recover from what has been an extremely psychologically testing season.
Andrea Dovizioso
Having been the runner up in the championship for the past three years, Andrea Dovizioso was expected to be a title contender this season. But it has been a far from ideal year for the Italian. His performances have been extremely inconsistent and while this is partly down to difficulties with the front tire, the breakdown of his relationship with Ducati is hard to understate.
It was announced in August that the eight-year partnership would come to a bitter end. A deal could not be reached between the two and it was no secret that tensions were high in the garage. With no ride next year, yet arguably one of the strongest racers in the paddock, the 2020 season has not been kind to Dovizioso. Whether he will return to racing in 2022 is unknown.
With the paddock now focused on 2021, it seems as if this season has left us with more questions than it has answered. How will the likes of Suzuki and KTM perform next year? Will Quartararo and Marquez come back strong? And most importantly, has this extraordinary season marked the start of a new era in MotoGP?
By Daniela Loffreda