Reigning world c🌼hampion Marc Marquez has been out of action since breaking his arm in the season-opening Spanish Grand Prix and there are now doubts about whether he will even return this season.

ಞWith Marquez sidelined, eight different riders have won the 11 races so far, and the cham✅pionship battle is tighter than ever.

25 points (the equivalent of one race win) covers the top 4 in the championship, from Suzukꦬi’s Joan Mir to Yamaha riders Maverick Vinales, Fabio Quartararo and now Franco Morbidelli.

With a wild season on our hands, can Marc🌃 Marquez’s absence be ruled as the main reason for such unpredictability🌜:

As a six-time world champion, Marquez has often dominated the MotoGP field, prꦉoving untouchable and unbeatable in many circumstances.

But as well as Marquez’s absence, there is the impact of the revised tyres. The new constructi♊on o🅘f the Michelin rear - created to provide more grip and consistent wear - has proved a struggle for some riders and teams to adapt to.

Riders such as Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso have been heavily impacted by the change, meaning that the three-time runner-up has dropped towards the back of the grid, especiಞally in qualifying.

"For me the tyres decide a lot this year," agreed Fabio Quartararo, leader of the world championship until Aragon. "Some tracks you have a gre🎀at feeling, some tracks you have a really bad feeling. It depends on the rider and onღ the riding style."

Meanwhile, the competitiveness of the KTM MotoGP team in 2020 is another reason for the excꦐiting season, with boꦑth Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira (from the Tech3 team) taking spectacular maiden wins.

Thanks partly to their previous concession team status, which allowed them to make engine changes and have the opportunity to test more, KTM has proven to be a tough competitor against🌠 the likes of Yamaha, Ducati, Honda and Suzuki.

So it seems Marc Marquez’s absence is certainly not the only reason for the vast amoun🌊t of winners and entertaining performances.

After all, as Marquez’s former team-mate Dani Pedrosa has said, Marc is just one rider, so even if he was on the podium every week, there wou🐎ld still be two other riders up🎉 there with him - the identity of whom would remain just as unpredi𒐪ctable aꦜs the 2020 season so far.

"I think the championship is very competitive in itself because of the level that you see every week; riders are exchanging positions, one weekend fighting for the podium and the next weekend at the same track maybe not," Ped൩rosa said.

"Of course, without Marc there is more opportunity for some other riders. Bu🧜t at the end Marc is one rider, so if he would always be on the podium - as he usually is - therౠe would still be two other guys on the podium.

"So I think with Marc on track the chance to win is more d꧒ifficult, but without him the competition [you see] would still be t🌱here."