The most treacherous corner of the 2023 MotoGP season revealed
Official MotoGP.com stats reveal 23 riders across all classes fell at the tight and slippery right-hander during MotoGP’s inaugural visit, putting it one accident ahead of the 22 suffered at Turn 4 (Miller hairpin) during the Phillip Island weekend.
11 of the Buddh Turn 1 falls were in Moto2, with 7 in MotoGP and 5 in Moto3. The MotoGP Sprint and Moto2 race both saw multiple riders fall at the start.
Since the race day action in Australia was curtailed by extreme weather, which also contributed to the number of falls, Turn 4 would likely have claimed more victims had the full schedule been completed.
Turns 7 (Musee) and 3 at Le Mans, plus Turn 14 (Carro) at Misano were the next most treacherous with 16 accidents each over the French and San Marino GPs respectively.
The new Sprint races saw 49 accidents, compared with 86 during the full-length grands prix. 20 GPs were held last year but only 19 Sprints due to the cancellation of Phillip Island.
MotoGP class riders fell 358 times in total, the highest number of accidents since records began in 2011 and 23 more than last year. The world championship calendar stood at a record 20-rounds for a second consecutive season.
As previously reported, Le Mans, traditionally one of the trickiest events, and Buddh were tied for the most overall falls during a 2023 grand prix weekend at 79, followed by COTA (69) and Sepang (65). Argentina was the ‘safest’ weekend with only 23 accidents.
Marc Marquez fell more times than any other premier-class rider during his final Honda season.
A crash or fall is defined as 'the bike physically touching the ground and remaining on the ground'. Testing accidents are not included.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
