The main novelty for 2020 will be a new system for the trials, with the competition route now featuring just 10 sections over three laps (previously events were 15 sections over 2 laps). The Coronavirus has forced race authorities to make each day of the event a separate points-scoring competition, each counting towards the championship (Saturday and Sunday). In addition, the qualifying day prior to each of the competitions has been cancelled outright.
The season will be an intense one for the Repsol Honda Team. It begins on September 5 and 6 in Isola 2000, France and will continue on the following two weekends, first at Pobladura de las Regueras in Spain, followed by the habitual event in Sant JuliÌÊ de LÌ_ria, Andorra. The championship wraps up on the second weekend of October in Lazzate, Italy. All races are to be held on closed off road circuits.
"I can‰Ûªt wait to get started," Toni Bou said. "Being inactive for so long, we have started to really miss racing. The sensations are very strange, and I imagine that for everyone it will be similar. Luckily, I‰Ûªve have been able to train and I think I'm in shape and really looking forward to getting back to normal. It will be a very different year, without a doubt, with a very short championship and the trials very close together: it will be very tough. Any fiascos could complicate things, so we will try to stay very focused. The important thing will be not to make mistakes. On the other hand, the trials are almost all at altitude which makes things even tougher."
