Rising MotoGP star Fabio Quartararo is looking forward to the start of the 2020 season at Jerez next month but warns that riders will have to be careful in such a tightly-packed schedule.

There are currently 13 races scheduled for 18 weeks and that could rise if a decision is made to include flyway rounds at the end of the year and Quartararo believes that even a small injury could spell the end of a championship bid.

I’m really happy that we finally have a calendar. Thanks go to Dorna and IRTA for the great job done. I’m training really hard for it and we finally have a confirmed start date, so our target is now on July 19th in Jerez," said the Frenchman.

"It will be a different calendar, the only one that can go ahead in this extraordinary situation. We will have back-to-back races at the same circuit and less GPs, but I think the most important thing in this kind of championship is to finish races and go race by race.

"We will have to be really careful with crashes and injuries because, with such a tight championship, one injury can mean you’re out for a lot of races. It will also be important to follow the protocols strictly."

Quartararo will also get to ride in front of his home crowd at Le Mans in October and that will be a touch chilly.

"Honestly after all the rumours during the last couple of months in the media, I never expected a race in France. It was a really nice surprise. Hopefully, if the worldwide situation improves, maybe they can also open the circuits to a small number of fans – that would be great. We miss them a lot!

"Now the most important thing is to step-by-step, stay healthy and later we will have time to enjoy the entire MotoGP experience again. If we can conclude the year at the home GP of the team in Malaysia it would be an extra bonus for a really difficult start of the year."