2020 MotoGP season

• Johann Zarco and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing announced midway through the 2019 season that they would end their relationship prematurely. Zarco was originally contracted through the end of 2020.[22] His seat was taken by 2016 Moto3 champion Brad Binder, who moved up to MotoGP from KTM's Moto2 program. Binder was originally slotted to replace Hafizh Syahrin at Red Bull KTM Tech3. Instead, fellow KTM Moto2 rider Iker Lecuona was promoted to the MotoGP class to replace Syahrin, who returned to Moto2.[13][23]
• Three-time MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo retired at the conclusion of the 2019 season, after 12 seasons in the premier class.[24] He was replaced at Repsol Honda by 2019 Moto2 champion Álex Márquez, alongside his brother Marc Márquez.[11][25] On 30 January 2020, Jorge Lorenzo was confirmed to be returning to Yamaha as a part of the manufacturer's European testing team.[26] Before the start of the season, Lorenzo confirmed that he would make a wildcard entry for Yamaha at the Catalunya round.[27] Due to the COVID-19 response, wildcard entries were later forbidden to minimize paddock personnel.[28]
• Between the Valencia and Jerez post-season tests, it was announced that Reale Avintia had elected to prematurely terminate Karel Abraham's contract which would have seen him with the team through the end of 2020. Abraham confirmed his retirement from MotoGP after 8 years in the premier class.[29]
• Johann Zarco joined Reale Avintia in Karel Abraham's place.[3]
• Andrea Iannone was handed a provisional suspension from all FIM-sanctioned events on 17 December 2019 for a failed doping test after the Malaysian Grand Prix. On 31 March 2020, the FIM International Disciplinary Court upheld the suspension and commuted it to an 18-month ban from the beginning of the provisional suspension.[30] Bradley Smith will replace him for at least the first 2 rounds of 2020, as Iannone awaits the results of his appeal.[1]

• The Thailand Grand Prix was moved from being the 15th round of 2019 to the 2nd round of 2020.
• The Argentine Grand Prix and Grand Prix of the Americas swapped places in the calendar order.
• The German Grand Prix and Dutch TT also swapped places, with Germany moving to 21 June, while the Assen round remained in its traditional position on the final weekend of June.
• The Finnish Grand Prix was reintroduced to the calendar after a 38-year absence. The venue hosting the round will be the new Kymi Ring, instead of the Tampere Circuit used in 1962 and 1963 or the Imatra Circuit which hosted the round until 1982.
• The Aragon Grand Prix was moved from the last week of September to the first week of October. It was later returned to its original schedule to allow for the rescheduled Thailand Grand Prix.

The season calendar has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the cancellation or postponement of many races and an overall delay to the start of the season.

• The Qatar Grand Prix, originally scheduled to be the first round, was cancelled after Qatari quarantine measures were put in place. However, the Moto2 and Moto3 races proceeded as planned, as the teams were already in Qatar for their final pre-season test before the quarantine measures were implemented.[52]
• The Thailand Grand Prix was postponed on 2 March due to COVID-19 concerns.[53] It was later confirmed to take place on 4 October, shifting the Aragon Grand Prix forward by a week.[54]
• The Grand Prix of the Americas was postponed from 5 April to 15 November after the City of Austin implemented a state of emergency. The Valencian Grand Prix was subsequently shifted back by one week to 22 November to accommodate the Austin rescheduling.[55]
• The Argentine Grand Prix was postponed to 22 November, further shifting the finale in Valencia to 29 November.[56]
• The Spanish Grand Prix was postponed on 26 March.[57]
• The French Grand Prix was postponed on 2 April.[58]
• The Italian and Catalan Grands Prix were postponed on 7 April.[59]
• The German Grand Prix was postponed on 17 April after the German government announced a ban of all large gatherings until at least 31 August.[60]
• The Dutch TT was postponed on 23 April after the Dutch government announced a ban on all mass events until at least 1 September.[61]
• The Finnish Grand Prix was postponed on 24 April.[62]
• The German, Dutch and Finnish rounds were officially cancelled on 29 April.[63] For the first time in the championship's history, the Dutch TT was absent from the calendar.
• The British and Australian rounds were cancelled on 29 May.[64]
• The Japanese round was cancelled on 1 June.[65]
• The Italian round was officially cancelled on 10 June.[66]
• On 11 June, a new schedule based in Europe was announced. The season is to contain 5 "double-headers" on consecutive weekends at Jerez, Austria, Misano, Aragon, and Valencia to achieve a minimum of 13 races. A decision on potential fly-away races in Asia and the Americas will be made in July.[31]
• The European Grand Prix will return to the calendar for the first time since 1995, held at Ricardo Tormo Circuit as the first round of the Valencian double-header.[31]

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.

Pos Rider Bike SPA ALU CZE AUT STY SMR ERM CAT FRA ARA TER EUR VAL THA AME ARG MAL Pts 1 Pos Rider Bike SPA ALU CZE AUT STY SMR ERM CAT FRA ARA TER EUR VAL THA AME ARG MAL Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap Light blue – Rookie