A rise of falls in MotoGP 2011

Stats for the 2011 MotoGP, Moto2 and 125cc seasons...
Sofuoglu, Indianapolis Moto2 2011
Sofuoglu, Indianapolis Moto2 2011
© Gold and Goose

By Matt Zollo

The 2011 motorcycle grand prix season may not be remembered as one of the greatest, certainly not as far as MotoGP is concerned, but it will go down as one of the most accident-packed: There were 894 crashes in all classes during the 2011 season, the highest number since records began in 1997.

Falls per Year (all classes)

Season Total Falls2011:894 2010:825 2009: 642 2008:876 2007:672 2006: 647 2005:737 2004:706 2003:705 2002:646 2001:634 2000:633 1999:565 1998: 468 1997:496

It would be easy to lay blame on the introduction of bike-packed Moto2 grids, or the high corner speeds of 800cc MotoGP bikes, or the tricky warming-up procedure of Bridgestone's control tyre for the high 2011 figure. But analysing the data doesn't indicate that any one factor specifically is to blame.

For instance, the second highest number of falls recorded over a season, at 876, was in 2008, two years before Moto2 bikes were swamping grids, and before the control tyre was introduced - although it was the year of Michelin's disastrous campaign, which may go some way to explaining it. Similarly, during the first year of 800s, in 2007, only 672 falls were amassed; lower than the 2003/4/5 990cc seasons.

More likely, the high 2011 figure is a combination of all three factors mentioned, along with what seemed to be an unusually high number of meetings with rainfall.

It must also be noted that until 2004 there were only 16 races per season, but 17 and then 18 per season thereafter (though 125cc and 250cc/Moto2 classes have never visited Laguna).

Falls per Category

MotoGP:157Moto2:421125cc:316

No surprise to see Moto2 with the highest number, and MotoGP the lowest. This might partly be down to the differing experience levels of the grids, but in the main it is simply a result of the size of them: there were more than twice the number of Moto2 bikes than MotoGP bikes in 2011.

Falls per Rider

Calculating the average number of falls per rider in each class (based on the number of riders on each championship's 2011 entry list) gives a fairer picture.

MotoGP:9.2Moto2:10.8125cc:9.9

Over the whole 2011 season, a Moto2 rider suffered on average only two more falls than a MotoGP rider (who admittedly did compete at one extra round).

It is interesting to note, then, that although still influential, large grid sizes and large speed differentials (often a handful of the slowest Moto2 riders post fastest laps some three or more seconds slower than the fastest riders) perhaps don't have quite as large an impact as feared.

The risk is there, however, and when Crash.net spoke to Franco Uncini, the MotoGP Riders' Safety Representative, about concerns over the potentially large speed differentials in MotoGP next year, he was well aware of the potential for problems.

"We will have big differences between the CRT and the prototypes on MotoGP, but we will monitor it. We expect a much better situation at the middle of the season," he said.

Falls per Session (all classes):

FP1:130FP2:127FP3:100QP:179WUP:71Race:287

Unsurprisingly, most falls happened during a race, and the least during warm-up (it being the shortest session will have a bearing on this), the same in each class. But while qualifying has the second highest crash rate, on average, for both Moto2 and MotoGP it was FP2 that saw the second-most falls in 125cc.

Falls per Circuit (all classes):

Assen:78Jerez:71Sepang:71Valencia:69Estoril:68Brno:54Catalunya:54Sachensring:51Phillip Island:50Silverstone:49Le Mans:47Indianapolis:45Motegi:45Misano:38Losail:37Aragon:31Mugello:25Laguna Seca:11

It's no surprise numbers were high at Assen, Jerez, Valencia and Estoril, as all four rounds suffered inclement weather at one point or another - although Silverstone was also a wet weekend, yet features only mid-table.

With only the MotoGP bikes visiting Laguna Seca, that circuit's low figure is easily explained. Excluding Laguna, the average per meeting was 52.

MotoGP - Falls per Rider

Abraham:22Simoncelli:15De Puniet:14Crutchlow:12Rossi:12Spies:11Elias:10Bautista:8Aoyama:7Stoner:7Edwards:6Pedrosa:5Lorenzo:5Capirossi:5Dovizioso:4Barbera:4Hayden:3

Moto2 - Falls per Rider

Most falls:Axel Pons (20), Ricard Cardus (19), Kenny Noyes (18)Least falls:Claudio Corti (1)

125cc - Falls per Rider

Most falls:Niklas Ajo (16), Adrian Martin (15), Luis Salom, Harry Stafford, Danny Webb (13)Least falls:Nicolas Terol (2)

Only full time, contracted, riders who competed the majority of the season included.

MotoGP - Falls per Manufacturer

Ducati:60 (average per bike = 10)Honda:48 (average per bike = 8)Yamaha:34 (average per bike = 8.5)Suzuki:8

Again, no surprises here: Ducatis suffered the highest number of falls during the season, both overall and per bike. Although 48 of the 60 falls were accumulated by Abraham, De Puniet and Rossi alone, which shows Capirossi, Barbera and Hayden (the only one of the three to campaign every round) in a particularly good light.

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