Unless you missed it, 2020 has been pretty hit and miss so far as good news is concerned. It looked early doors like the pandemic would wipe out motorcycle racing entirely but it was road racing that bore the brunt.

Dorna and Motorsport Vision worked incredibly hard to make their three series function, and the squished calendars, triple-headers and lack of Marc Marquez gave us a racing year which was one of the best in certainly my living memory.

So credit where credit is due to Stuart Higgs and his team, Greg Lavilla and his team and Carmelo Ezpeleta and his team for making something great out of a potential nightmare.

My personal thanks must go to two sets of people this year. Firstly, bikesportnews.com’s loyal audience who kept coming back to watch my half-arsed Zoom interviews with riders and kept us afloat with their readership when not a great deal was going on.

Secondly, to the Gordon Ritchie, Phil Wain, Derek Wilson, and, in the second half of the season, Christina Bulpett for going above and beyond, especially those at trackside, to bring you all the stories they did from behind a mask, two-metres distant or a Microsoft Teams meeting with riders who were only ten feet away.

And also to Tim Keeton, Graeme Brown, Jamie Morris and Vacuum Dusty Jr (who is celebrating his fourth birthday today) for their sterling efforts behind the lens in increasingly difficult circumstances. Plus our two track testers Adam Child and ‘Champagne Charlie’ Alan Dowds for their work, too.

Once again, thank you all.

Merry Christmas and here’s to what can only be a better 2021.

David Miller