BOLOGNA, June 29 — Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso is expected to be fit in time for the start of the 2020 MotoGP season next month despite needing surgery for a left collarbone injury, his team said today.

The 34-year-old sustained the injury yesterday following a crash while competing in a motocross race at Faenza in northern Italy. Ducati announced later in a tweet that Dovizioso was due to have the operation in Modena.

MotoGP said this month that it will resume the 2020 season stalled by the Covid-19 pandemic with back-to-back races at the Jerez circuit in Spain on July 19 and 26.

Five circuits will host double-headers and Spain will have seven races as part of the revised 13-round European calendar.

Italian Dovizioso finished runner-up behind Spaniard Marc Marquez of Honda in the 2019 season. — Reuters