A decreasing number of falls in 2024

During the 20 Grand Prix weekends which made up the 2024 season, MotoGP riders accumulated 335 crashes. The number of accidents we have seen this year is the same as in 2022, the last season before the introduction of sprint races. On a more equal comparison, these are 23 fewer than in 2023, a practically identical season in its program with the exception of one sprint race less contested at the time.

For 2024, the average is 16.75 falls per weekend, compared to 17.9 in 2023. This reduction comes as speed records continue to be broken and with the introduction of With a new rear tire, many riders complained of a feeling of pushing on the front which could unbalance them.

Compared to 2023, few drivers suffered injuries leading to withdrawals. While last season, no Grand Prix could be contested with all the starters present, this time there were “only” five to miss the Grands Prix in their entirety, in this case Miguel Oliveira, Fabio di Giannantonio, Aleix Espargaró, Álex Rins and Joan Mir (the latter due to illness and not injury), to which were added some renunciations to start a race but to a lesser extent than last year. last.

Who fell the most in 2024?

In the details of the official counts, the rider having fallen most often is the rookie Pedro Acosta on the KTM, with 28 falls to his account: this is the highest score of the year, all categories combined. Next comes Marc Márquez (24), who moved from the Honda to the Ducati this year, then Álex Márquez (21) who, like his brother, rode the GP23, reputed to be more prone to this feeling of the rear pushing on the front. Then we find the other KTM riders, Jack Miller (20), Brad Binder and Augusto Fernández (19 each), as well as Aleix Espargaró on the Aprilia (19).

While Pecco Bagnaia qualified this season as “championship of errors”the statistics therefore provide a different vision. Moreover, the Italian driver fell nine times during the Grands Prix, which makes him one of the starters with the fewest mistakes, with Fabio Quartararo (9), Raúl Fernández (8), Takaaki Nakagami (7), Luca Marini (4) as well as Miguel Oliveira (6 falls, but absent from 4 GPs). Only seven of Bagnaia's falls were observed during a race (GP or sprint) and it is this, and not their frequency, which could have given this perception.

Among the brands, Ducati logically has more crashes than the others having fielded more riders. To have a reliable view, it is appropriate to look at the averages, and we then find KTM at the top of this ranking. With six drivers lined up for 84 participations in total, the Austrian manufacturer experienced an average of 1.10 crashes per GP. Ducati's average is 0.82, while the Japanese brands are far behind with 0.53 for Honda and 0.48 for Yamaha.

Where have we fallen the most?

As for the circuits, the prize obviously goes to the two tracks which hosted two Grands Prix: Barcelona (79) and Misano (77). But if we decipher the figures by isolating each round, it was at the Spanish GP, in Jerez, that we fell most often, and this is not surprising since we remember the weather conditions which had caused widespread disruption in April, helping to push the number of crashes to 74. Mandalika and Phillip Island were next on the list, with 67 and 64 crashes respectively during their Grand Prix weekend.

Championship officials also provide details of crashes per corner, and there it is turn 4 at Phillip Island which caused the most damage with 29 accidents alone. He had already caused 22 last year, only beaten by the first corner of the Buddh circuit, which was no longer on the calendar this year. Turn 13 at Jerez caused 23 crashes and turn 3 at Red Bull Ring 19.

If we count the three categories of Grands Prix together, the 2024 season displays 885 falls, the lowest number in ten years, with the exception of 2020 when only 14 Grands Prix could be contested. This decline also applies to the Moto2 and Moto3 categories, where the total number of accidents fell to its lowest level since the championship began to officially record these statistics in 2010. This could be explained by the change of tire manufacturer. , with Pirelli having replaced Dunlop in both categories this year.