After a two-week breather MotoGP gears up for a frantic blast through the rest of the season with nine races across 11 weeks, starting with the San Marino Grand Prix.
The 2020 MotoGP season has produced constant surprises so far with three different first-time winners and dramatic moments aplenty.
Despite struggling throughout the Austrian double-header, Fabio Quartararo still leads the MotoGP riders’ standings with a three-point advantage over Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso.
With Marc Marquez set to remain out of action until at least October, the title race is expected to remain wide open with the Misano double-header presenting an opportunity for a championship contender to grab the initiative after an unpredictable opening five rounds.
Quartararo was narrowly denied victory at Misano by Marquez 12 months ago, so will come into this weekend as a strong candidate for victory, but he’ll be hoping to regain confidence after a tough triple-header between Brno and the Red Bull Ring.
Dovizioso will also be under the spotlight with his future uncertain after confirming his Ducati exit in Austria before going on to win the opening Spielberg race to kickstart his title charge.
All KTM riders will be feeling confident about their chances following the last trio of races, with Brad Binder claiming victory in Brno and Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira matching the feat in the second Red Bull Ring encounter.
A fightback will also be expected from factory Yamaha duo Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi. The Spanish rider suffered a dramatic bailout crash last timeout at the Styrian GP, which was later revealed to be down to ignoring MotoGP brake supplier Brembo’s advice to run a new system.
Rossi is expected to shed some light on his MotoGP future as talks with SRT continue to protract, while the wider rider market will also be a key focus point, as Ducati looks set to confirm who will take its second factory spot alongside Jack Miller for 2021.
Misano will host a MotoGP double-header over the next two weeks before the paddock heads on to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the Catalan GP at the end of the month.
2020 San Marino MotoGP session timings
MotoGP will run its traditional schedule of two free practice sessions lasting 45 minutes each on Friday, with another 45-minute practice session on Saturday morning. The top 10 on the combined FP1-2-3 timesheet will automatically enter into Q2 of qualifying. A final 30-minute FP4 session is held on Saturday afternoon ahead of qualifying.
Q1 of qualifying sees all riders who did not finish in the top 10 of the combined practice times take part with the top two finishers progressing into Q2 alongside the top 10 who gained an automatic spot via their practice times.
Q2 is the pole position shootout which decides the order of the front four rows, with the rest of the grid organised on Q1 times, for the 27-lap San Marino GP on Sunday.
Moto2, Moto3 and MotoE are also in action during the San Marino GP.
Friday 11th September 2020
Free Practice 1: 8:55am-9:40am BST (9:55am-10:40pm local)
Free Practice 2: 1:10pm-1:55pm BST (2:10pm-2:55pm local)
Saturday 12th September 2020
Free Practice 3: 8:55am-9:40am BST (9:55am-10:40am local)
Free Practice 4: 12:30pm-1:00pm BST (1:30pm-2:00pm local)
Qualifying: 1:10pm-1:50pm BST (2:10pm-2:50pm local)
Sunday 13th September 2020
Warm Up: 8:40am-9:00am BST (9:20am-9:40am local)
Race: 1:00pm BST (2:00pm local)
How can I watch the San Marino MotoGP?
Channel: BT Sport 2
Channel numbers – Sky: 414 (BT Sport 2)
Channel numbers – Virgin Media: 528 (BT Sport)
BT Sport’s live coverage of Sunday’s action starts with the warm-up sessions at 07:20am, taking it from the world feed, before switching to its own broadcast at 09:00am for the pre-race show ahead of the MotoE race.
The build-up to the MotoGP race starts from 12:30pm, or when the Moto2 race finishes, ahead of lights out at 1:00pm.
Can I stream the San Marino MotoGP?
Viewers in the United Kingdom can also stream the San Marino GP by purchasing a video pass from MotoGP.com. A one-off video pass, which lasts until the first race of the 2021 season, costs £125.76p, or it can be paid for in two instalments each costing £62.88p.
The video pass gives access to every live session, qualifying and race, plus world feed content and the chance to watch previous races.
Weather forecast for the San Marino MotoGP
Misano is set for warm conditions with sunny spells throughout the San Marino GP race weekend, with highs of 28 degrees Celsius on race day.
Most San Marino MotoGP winners
Marc Marquez: 3 wins (2015, 2017, 2019)
Jorge Lorenzo: 3 wins (2011, 2012, 2013)
Valentino Rossi: 3 wins (2008, 2009, 2014)
Eddie Lawson: 2 wins (1985, 1986)
Randy Mamola: 2 wins (1984, 1987)
