The 2020 MotoGP World Cham🎐pio𝄹nship won't be forgotten in a hurry and not just because of coronavirus...

Winners and podium dweller🌺s galore, there hasn't been a more unpredictable season in living memory, which makes this Top 10 ranking even t💟rickier to decipher. But we have and attempted to justify our choices... comment below to let us know if we're right (or probably wrong!)

ltxcn.top MotoGP Top 10 Riders of 2020: 10th - JOHANN ZARCO

From where he ended 2019 to where he was going come the conclusion of 2020, Johan💃n Zarco probably experienced the most significant - and unexpected - change in fortunes over the past 12 months.

His well documented 🧸and gnarly divorce from KTM cast an unflattering light on the Frenchman’s following his inability (and apparent unwillingness) to adapt to the RC16, while his downbeat attitude and critique via the media didn’t endear to anyone with the power to potentially rescue him.

Following a false dawn with 🃏Honda (where the latter point appears to have cost him the chance to take Jorge Lorenzo’s Repsol Honda seat), Zarco stared down the barrel of a return to Moto2, a series he remains unique in winning twice and one - his divisiveness notwithstanding - he didn’t deserve to be consigned to.

So in comes stage righ📖t Ducati in red shining armour to not only save his 2020 hopes with a spot at Avintia Racin🌠g but arguably his career overall by setting him back on track towards the upper echelons of the sport.

Even then Zarco wasn’t terribly endearing himself even inꦗ the ಌface of obscurity, rather shaming Avintia as an uncompetitive team and going to some lengths to point out he signed for Ducati and not the Spanish outfit.

Still, the deal worked both ways; Zarco 💫had pretty good machinery that belied the minnow team’s status, while Avintia got a quality rider it wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford. Furthermore, wi🎃th the fairly solid GP19 still proving quick in the right hands, coupled to the fact the GP20 development had gone in an iffy direction, Avintia ended up having the better bike on several occasions.

Even so, it took Zarco to wring the most from the machine and he did so with aplomb in 2020, his smooth compliant style working very well with the GP19 characteri𒀰stics.

While there were numer♚ous ‘no way’ moments in 2020, Zarco’s p♔ole position in Brno remains one of the (maybe THE) most unexpected occasions all year. Indeed, if he’d achieved that at the final round after a year of several standout races, it would have made us step back, but here he was in Round 3 starting first...

A landmark day for Avintia Racing, Zarco went on to follow it up with a run to third place - viaꩵ the BEST execution of a long lap penalty ever seen in grand prix - and the results remained on the cusp𒉰 of that success with three top fives come season end.

As for our scores, well t﷽here were errors and from good positions, including Valencia, while he was of course the trigger - in the FIM’s eyes at least - for that Austria accident that a few inches either way could have been catastrophic for fඣour riders. He loses a bit for team work because, well, of those comments but gains some back by giving them a chance.

For 2021, Zarco is moving on up to the Pramac Racing team and is perfectly placed if Pecco Bagnaia - after a very disappointing end to the year - can’t make the most o𒁏f his factory opportunity.

It will be très intéressant