VOLUME 57 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 15, 2020 P113
unpredictable in modern times and provided
ever seen. This one deserves a second look
tria, Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in San
Marino, Motorland Aragon and the Ricardo Tormo
Circuit in Valencia, Spain, to make up the numbers.
Brno in the Czech Republic stayed on the calen-
dar, as did Le Mans in France, Circuit de Barcelo-
na-Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, and the spec-
tacular Portimao circuit in Portugal was granted the
end-of-season race for its MotoGP debut.
All races, bar those run at Misano and Le Mans,
were held without fans, and even then, fan access
to the track was extremely limited.
THE CRASH
For MotoGP, their season began with the Span-
ish Grand Prix at Jerez in the searing Andalusian
heat of July 19, and it would be a race where the
missing fans gave some indication of the strange-
ness that was to envelop the rest of the season.
The talking points of the season started with the
biggest one, as Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda)
pushed the limits that little bit too far, as he usually
does, only this time with such ramifications they
could prove to be the apex of his career.
Marquez had earlier run off-track while leading
at turn four, dirt tracking his way back onto the
circuit to be a distant 16th by the time the dust
settled. What followed was one of his finest rides,
as the six-time MotoGP World Champion put on a
racing clinic, dismantling the world's best one by
one in what must have been a demoralizing expe-
rience for those he passed.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
