Ever-outspoken former MotoGP champion Casey Stoner believes that Marc Marquez should have been a little more patient with his broken arm, allowed it to heal and come back mid-season to win the title again. It looks like the little Spaniard will undergo another operation in early December on the offending limb.

Stoner, meanwhile, is still in trouble with chronic fatigue syndrome, having only ridden bikes a smattering of times in the last two years and is barely able to go fishing, he starts the day with so little energy.

Fellow Aussie Jack Miller underwent surgery in Barcelona as soon as the season was over to remove plates from his tibia and fibia which were inserted after a motocross crash in 2016.

Alex Rins’ choice of tyre put paid to his claim on second place in the 2020 title chase but he says he isn’t bitter. Rins managed to bag third place behind Franco Morbidelli which gave Suzuki their most successful season since before all this was fields.

Never one to make a drama out of a drama, Aleix Espargaro has declared that Johann Zarco’s somewhat foolish move of crossing the track with a smoking engine could have resulted in death. The Aprilia man was deeply peeved at Zarco’s move and said: “You can’t just cross the track in a 200km/h curve. Because if someone comes from behind and doesn’t see the oil trail, that person can die.”

Pecco Bagnaia received a dislocated shoulder in his interface with Joan Mir on lap one of the Portimao finale and he had to pack in after three corners. Mir apologised and it was a stupid move - but not dirty.

Andrea Dovizioso still has ‘the fire’ for MotoGP, he says, but will now spend 2021 on the beach after opting out/failing to secure gainful employment for 2021. But he says he won’t make a return unless it is a correct fit, which is an excellent get-out clause for when the same thing happens at the end of next season.

Aprilia were left swinging in the wind after many reports put many riders in the frame for their second 2021 seat but not one signed on the line. There were has-beens and young guns all queueing up to partner Espargaro on the RS-GP21 but Massimo Rivola was left with a choice of test rider Bradley Smith and Lorenzo Savadori, who was ejected from WorldSBK for not being good enough.

Departing Danilo Petrucci puts the blame for his lack of results this year at the door of the new Michelin rear tyre, which he was unable to get to grips with for a majority of the season. “For sure, the bike has changed a bit compared to last year, not regarding the bike but regarding the rear tyre,” he said. “This was the main thing. I’m not happy because I haven’t found, except for two races, a really, really good feeling.”

World championship runner up Morbidelli is still banging the ‘satellite rider’ drum even after finishing the year top Yamaha. The Italian is clearly still miffed about being given the B-spec M1 even though it turned out to be the best option this year. Next year will be an important year for us and an interesting one, but after all we are satellite riders so I will have expectation but not too much because I will be a satellite rider,” he whined.