Nine winners in 12 races is simply staggering. Back in 2016, we were treated to nine different winners as Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Iannone, Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Dovizioso, Maverick Viñales and Jack Miller all stood on the top step. In 2016 we had four first-time winners – we’ve gone one better than that this year. Anyone thinking that could have been repeated this before Jerez season was either lying or has a crystal ball no one knows about. 2020 has been staggering and the best part about it is, we could genuinely have a 10th and 11th before we pack up on Sunday in Portimao.

Valencia podium finisher Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Pramac Racing’s Miller and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) are the riders you could probably argue strongest for when picking a 10th winner, but there’s more. Alex Marquez has claimed two podiums this year, Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) has a podium this season, Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) too and the likes of Rossi and Crutchlow already have Grand Prix wins to their name. If Marc Marquez comes back, there’s another phenomenal candidate for a race win.

We’ve run out of superlatives to describe the 2020 season. Nine different winners on four different types of machinery is testament to how competitive every rider and every factory is in this day and age of pinnacle two-wheel Grand Prix racing. Mir is on cloud nine and now has the chance to wrap the title up before the Portuguese Grand Prix in next weekend’s second Valencia helping. Will a 10th winner in 13 races rise highest though? It’s impossible to predict, but it’s absolutely possible.

GRAN PREMIO DE EUROPA

MotoGP Race Classification 2020.

MotoGP World Standing 2020.