The season was originally planned as a global series spanning multiple continents, but the pandemic forced the cancellation or postponement of every flyaway round. On 31 July 2020, the FIM confirmed that all remaining non-European races would be cancelled, making 2020 the first season held entirely within Europe since 1986 and one of the shortest in modern history at just 14 rounds.
The calendar was rebuilt around five double-headers at Jerez, the Red Bull Ring, Misano, Aragon, and Valencia. The Portuguese Grand Prix at Portimao was added as the season finale, the first Portuguese round since 2012 and the first finale outside Valencia since 2001. The European Grand Prix returned to the calendar for the first time since 1995, held at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia during the Valencian double-header.
Marquez, four-time consecutive world champion, crashed at the opening Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez. He sustained a fractured right humerus, underwent surgery, and attempted a return the following weekend before withdrawing for the rest of the season. His absence created the most open field in years and directly enabled the title fight among multiple manufacturers.
Mir's championship was built on consistency rather than outright pace. He won just one race during the season yet finished on the podium seven times, accumulating enough points to edge Franco Morbidelli by 13 points. It was the first Moto3 world champion to progress and win the premier class title. His teammate Alex Rins also contributed a race victory to Suzuki's cause, and Team Suzuki Ecstar secured the teams' championship at the penultimate round.
Nine different riders won races in 2020, matching the record set in 2016. Five riders took their first premier class victories: Fabio Quartararo, Brad Binder, Miguel Oliveira, Franco Morbidelli, and Mir himself. Three teams — Petronas SRT, KTM Factory Racing, and Tech3 — also claimed their first premier class wins. KTM's breakthrough with Binder's win in the Czech Republic was particularly significant, marking a new era for the Austrian manufacturer. Between the Czech Republic and Aragon Grands Prix, eight consecutive races were won by eight different riders, equalling a long-standing record.
Before the European Grand Prix, Yamaha and its satellite team Petronas SRT were penalised for changing engine valve specifications without unanimous approval from the Motorcycle Sport Manufacturers Association following the homologation freeze. Yamaha accepted the FIM sanctions without appeal. The factory team lost 20 points and Petronas SRT lost 37, with the manufacturers' championship docked 50 points. The penalty directly handed Ducati the constructors' title at the final round in Portugal, their first since Casey Stoner's dominant 2007 campaign.
The championship introduced a strict paddock bubble to limit viral exposure. Despite the measures, Valentino Rossi tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus in mid-October and was forced to miss the Aragon and Teruel rounds under Italian quarantine regulations, capping a career-low season in which he finished 15th overall — his worst championship result. Tech3 rider Iker Lecuona also missed three consecutive rounds after close-contact quarantine rules in Andorra and a subsequent personal positive test.
Andrea Iannone, originally due to race for Aprilia, was serving a provisional doping suspension from December 2019. A Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing stretched across the season before ultimately extending his ban from 18 months to four years, ruling him out of the 2020 season entirely.
The 2020 season is remembered as one of the most unpredictable in MotoGP history, demonstrating that the grid could be genuinely competitive without its dominant force. Mir's title stands as proof that a season-long points campaign built on podium finishes can prevail over individual race pace, and it validated Suzuki's patient development programme before the Japanese manufacturer's shock withdrawal from the championship in 2022.