Why new look MotoGP has the making of an unmissable season

In the four months since the planned 2020 season opener in Qatar was abandoned due to the coronavirus crisis, the MotoGP landscape has changed considerably.

The financial bite of COVID-19 has forced governing body the FIM and series promoter Dorna Sports to rethink MotoGP in the short term, with the most notable changes being the ban on bike development for all manufacturers for 2020 and a freeze over the winter that will carry over to the opening of the 2021 campaign. This will put the efforts of winter testing more into focus for all manufacturers, with any apparent problems in their packages now potentially transformed into long-term flaws.

Then there's the myriad rider-market moves that have been made during lockdown, some completely changing the dynamic within teams.

Just as they were ahead of the originally planned start to the season, Yamaha and Suzuki look to be in the best shape, and if anything may even stand to benefit from one key advantage. Michelin introduced a new tyre into its range for 2020, with a new construction offering greater edge and exit grip. But it has also changed the behaviour for some bikes - most notably the trickier Ducatis and Hondas.

At the Sepang and Qatar pre-season tests - topped by Yamaha riders, with Suzuki the nearest challenger - it was clear that the corner-friendly in-line-four-powered bikes were taking greater profit from the new tyre than their V4-powered counterparts. Those who struggled to get their head around the new rubber insisted it would only be a temporary disadvantage, and all they needed was a bit more time to set up the bikes around it.

But time isn't on their side anymore. Originally scheduled for 20 races across the year, the calendar currently stands at just 13 rounds in Europe (although space has been left for the three flyaways in November and early December should they be possible). All of a sudden, every race becomes make or break for title hopes.

With the first three rounds taking place at Jerez and Brno - two circuits that should suit the Yamaha M1 and Suzuki GSX-RR - Yamaha's prospective title hopes Maverick Vinales and Fabio Quartararo (Petronas SRT) and Suzuki duo Alex Rins and Joan Mir can (and must) deal big damage in the championship battle to capitalise on any early advantage their packages hold. The following double-header at the Red Bull Ring takes on new significance for Ducati - undefeated at the Austrian venue since its return in 2016.

Since beginning rehabilitation almost immediately after surgery, Dovizioso has been working hard to get himself back to full fitness. But he's only given his shoulder a proper MotoGP workout for one day

At the start of the season, the questions revolved around reigning world champion Marc Marquez and how his recovering shoulder injury - which left him at 70% fitness coming into the campaign - would hinder him early on. The break has been fortuitous for the six-time title winner, who will be looking to pick up where he left off in 2019.

Now those same questions are being aimed at Andrea Dovizioso. The three-time championship runner-up fractured his left collarbone in a motocross accident at the end of June. Since beginning rehabilitation almost immediately after surgery, Dovizioso has been working hard to get himself back to full fitness. But he's only given his shoulder a proper MotoGP workout for one day, in the test on Wednesday at Jerez just before the opening round.

To boot, the atmosphere within the Ducati camp is tense. Contract talks between Dovizioso and Ducati have stalled, with negotiations not set to resume until August. As it takes a financial battering from the virus crisis, Ducati has to cut rider salaries dramatically - and Dovizioso is expected have his reputed €6million contract at least halved. With his manager Simone Battistella admitting that a sabbatical in 2021 is an option if his deal isn't right, poor form in the early races could make the decision for him.

PLUS: Why doing an Alonso won't work for Dovizioso in MotoGP

Although Honda team boss Alberto Puig told Autosport earlier in the lockdown that any notion of Marquez struggling for pace in Qatar had the race gone ahead was unfounded, a question mark still hovers above HRC coming into the season, regardless of Marquez's full fitness.

It endured a torrid winter testing phase, with Marquez, Cal Crutchlow and Alex Marquez noting the bike's difficulty in the corners - LCR's Crutchlow even admitted it was "worse" than last year's already difficult bike. But elements of the new package did impress, and when it was found on the final day of the Qatar test that it was Honda's 2020-spec aero fairing that had been causing the issues, a turnaround was on the horizon.

The full potential of that bike is unknown, with only one proper day of running on the bike on Wednesday at Jerez, appropriately topped by Marc Marquez.

The opening Jerez round at least will essentially be an extended test session, albeit one it will be hard to rule Marquez out of. The 56-time MotoGP race winner, on paper at least based on his ultra-consistent 2019 form, looks tough to beat. Of all the circuits on the revised 2020 schedule, only at the Red Bull Ring did Marquez fail to reach the top step of the podium - and even then he was still second and in contention for that victory until the last corner.

Marquez is famed for his ability in practice sessions to stamp his authority almost immediately, so the sprint nature of the coming campaign arguably suits him more than anyone. But don't fear for one second that he'll go unchallenged.

A strong bike is one thing, but you need a strong rider to do great things with it. Yamaha has two in the form of a mentally rejuvenated Vinales and the factory-backed SRT sophomore Quartararo, who rattled Marquez's cage last season with his shock frontrunning pace. Testing suggests Vinales will be Marquez's nearest rival, but a Rory Gallagher-esque cool radiating from Quartararo arguably makes him Marquez's most dangerous opponent.

Speaking to Autosport last month, Quartararo admitted that winning this year ahead of his factory-team Yamaha bow in 2021 was inconsequential, and what will happen will happen. Deflecting pressure has become a key attribute of Quartararo - something he has learned since the pressure of his career almost collapsing during his Moto3 days. While the expectation will be on Vinales and Marquez - both from their teams and from themselves - Quartararo can simply focus on racing and continuing to grow.

PLUS: Why MotoGP's ego-free superstar should have Marquez worried

Growing will be the chief objective of KTM's Brad Binder and Tech3 counterpart Iker Lecuona, as well as Honda's Alex Marquez. With just 13 rounds this year, these three rookies will effectively be facing a debut campaign in two parts, as next year (assuming normality returns) will see all of them arrive at circuits they won't race at this season.

Reigning Moto2 champion Alex Marquez's season will be an odd one. He has been ousted from the factory squad to make way for Pol Espargaro for 2021 without having raced yet - hardly confidence-inspiring stuff from your employer. But, equally, the pressure is now off as his factory-backed LCR future is all but assured and he can just get on with learning the bike.

PLUS: Why Espargaro signing isn't a disaster for Alex Marquez

At KTM, the impressive Miguel Oliveira will be expected to build on the sole top-eight finish of his debut campaign at Tech3 as the Austrian marque moulds him into team leader for his step up to the factory squad next year alongside Binder (while outgoing Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci takes his place at Tech3).

Whether it made good use of this extra time will become evident over the next few weeks, but the performance of the new Aprilia RS-GP in testing does hint at a good year for Aleix Espargaro if reliability has been conquered

KTM's loss of Espargaro is a bigger disaster than it is willing to publicly admit. So far he's the only rider in the project's history to have extracted top results from the RC16, and all hasn't been well between both parties for some time. Espargaro insists he'll give his full commitment this year, but you can't help but feel his motivations will be driven by a desire to constantly remind KTM what it's going to miss.

Both KTM and Aprilia - MotoGP's concession manufacturers - were allowed extra time to tinker with engines before they were homologated and sealed for this year. Aprilia lodged the request after encountering reliability issues with its all-new 90-degree V4 engine powering its overhauled RS-GP. Whether it made good use of this extra time will become evident over the next few weeks, but the performance of the new bike in testing does hint at a good year for Aleix Espargaro if reliability has been conquered.

Over lockdown, Andrea Iannone was hit with an 18-month doping ban for accidental ingestion of a banned steroid. Aprilia is sticking by his pleas of innocence and is backing his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports. But the World Anti-Doping Agency wants the ban extended to four years.

Aprilia has consistently reiterated its desire to retain Iannone alongside Espargaro for 2021, but this situation has presented an opportunity for Bradley Smith, who will step out of his test rider role to fill in for Iannone while his ban is still active.

PLUS: The second chance that could safeguard Britain's MotoGP future

No one could have predicted back in March that MotoGP would be where it is now, and quite what it will look like come November is anyone's guess. Though the season may only be 13 races long, that hardly matters in the end.

The mere fact that the greatest show in two-wheeled motorsport is getting back under way at all after the misery of the past few months is good enough. The fact that this is still set to be the most exciting season in seven decades of history is a welcome bonus.

How MotoGP has reacted to COVID-19

The COVID-19-enforced shutdown has sent the world's economies into unprecedented levels of uncertainty, and sport - particularly motorsport - will feel the results. MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports rolled out a €9million financial aid package for the satellite MotoGP teams, as well as all Moto2 and Moto3 squads, to keep them afloat while it tried to steer the championship to better days.

The current bikes have been frozen for this year, with all manufacturers having to start 2021 on this year's machinery. After the first race, normal development rules will apply, meaning only Aprilia and KTM will be able to develop engines next season.

To ensure virus safety in the paddock, numbers have been cut dramatically, with around 1300 covering MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3 (with 45 personnel allowed for factory teams, 25 for satellite teams, 20 for Moto2 and 15 for Moto3 squads) and skeleton TV crews permitted. At least for the opening rounds, there will be no written media allowed.

Much like in F1, paddock personnel will be isolated into bubbles and virus testing will take place regularly. All team members travelling from outside Europe will have to observe a two-week quarantine period upon arrival. For the time being, races will be run without fans in attendance.

MotoGP has worked with the MotoAmerica Superbike series - headed by three-time 500cc world champion Wayne Rainey - in crafting its paddock protocol, after it became the first international series to begin racing in May since lockdown measures took hold.

PLUS: How MotoAmerica is paving the way for bike racing's return

With Dorna's protocols developed at the height of the pandemic, CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta is confident they will still prove successful should infections in Europe begin to spike again.

"I hope things will change for the better, but maybe they will get worse," Ezpeleta told Autosport. "The protocols that we will put into practice were created at the worst moment of the pandemic, and I think they will be valid in the worst-case scenario.

"If we respect everything, everything will be fine, but the measures are severe because we are not yet in a position to smooth them out."

Revised MotoGP calendar

1. Jerez (ESP) 19 July
2. Jerez (ESP) 26 July
3. Brno (CZE) 9 August
4. Red Bull Ring (AUT) 16 August
5. Red Bull Ring (AUT) 23 August
6. Misano (ITA) 13 September
7. Misano (ITA) 20 September
8. Barcelona (ESP) 27 September
9. Le Mans (FRA) 11 October
10. Motorland Aragon (ESP) 18 October
11. Motorland Aragon (ESP) 25 October
12. Valencia (ESP) 8 November
13. Valencia (ESP) 15 November