The 2020 season calendar was announced on 21 November 2019, with 13 rounds scheduled.[1] The championship visited Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (on 19 and 20 September) for the first time,[2] and a round was due to be staged at Oschersleben – on 1 and 2 August – for the first time since 2004.[3]Due to thecoronavirus pandemic, the Losail round was postponed to an unannounced date[4] and the Jerez,[5] Assen,[6] Aragon and Misano rounds were rescheduled to a later date, while the Imola[7] and Oschersleben[8] rounds were cancelled. As a result of updates made to the MotoGP calendar for the same reason, the French round date was also affected.[5] Despite having already been rescheduled, the Assen round was later postponed to a to-be-determined date, along with the Donington round.[9]
On 19 June, an updated calendar was published; for the restart, Jerez and Portimão were brought forward from their respective dates and a second round at Aragon was added to the schedule. Other five rounds—the first at Aragon, as well as Barcelona, Magny-Cours, San Juan and Misano—either kept their original or revised dates, although the latter two events were labelled as 'to be confirmed'. Three rounds—Losail, Donington and Assen—were included without a confirmed date[10][11] and were subsequently cancelled on 24 July.[12] The San Juan round was cancelled on the 13 August[13] whilst the Misano round was cancelled and replaced by a round in Estoril on 18 August.[14][15] It was the first time since 1993 that the championship raced at Estoril.
^ abThe Jerez round was originally due to take place on 27–29 March 2020. It was first postponed to 23–25 October[5] and later moved to 31 July–2 August[10] in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
^ abThe Portimão round was originally due to take place on 4–6 September 2020. It was moved to 7–9 August in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
^ abThe Aragon round was originally due to take place on 22–24 May 2020. It was postponed to 28–30 August in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]
^ abThe second Aragon round was added to the calendar on 19 June 2020.[10]
^ abThe Magny-Cours round was originally due to take place on 25–27 September 2020. It was postponed to 2–4 October in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
^ abThe Estoril round was added to the calendar on 18 August 2020. It replaced the Misano round which was cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[14]
^ abThe Losail round was originally due to take place on 13–15 March 2020. It was postponed to an unannounced date[4] and subsequently cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]
^ abThe Assen round was originally due to take place on 17–19 April 2020. It was postponed first to 21–23 August,[6] later to an unannounced date[10] and subsequently cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]
^ abThe Imola round was originally due to take place on 8–10 May 2020. It was cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]
^ abThe Donington round was originally due to take place on 3–5 July 2020. It was postponed to an unannounced date[10] and subsequently cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]
^ abThe Oschersleben round was originally due to take place on 31 July–2 August 2020. It was cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]
^ abThe Argentina round was originally due to take place on 9–11 October 2020. It was cancelled on 13 August 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]
^ abThe Misano round was originally due to take place on 12–14 June 2020. It was initially postponed to 6–8 November, but was later cancelled on 18 August 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[14]
^Jordi Torres was announced as a MIE Racing Althea Honda Team rider from the Jerez round onwards in February 2020,[29] before the COVID-19 pandemic-related calendar changes; he was replaced by Lorenzo Gabellini in July 2020, before the season resumption.[30]
^ abLeandro Mercado competed in the first Friday practice session during round 6, before being replaced on Saturday by Lorenzo Zanetti.[40]