MotoGP: Acosta Tops Crashes In 2024

11/23/2024 09:59 AM

“This is normal,” Pedro Acosta said in his post-Barcelona MotoGP test media briefing, when asked why all three rookies to the class had crashed before noon on their first day of riding a MotoGP machine. “They have to learn the tires.”

Acosta would know personally the difficulty of making the change from a Moto2 machine to a MotoGP racebike. The only rookie in the field of 2024, Acosta led the annual falls report for the MotoGP class, hitting the ground 28 times, and said he struggled to adapt from the control Moto2 Dunlop tires to the Michelins used in MotoGP.

Marc Marquez was second with 24, the eight-time World Champion often on the ground as he adapted from riding the Honda RC213V – the only MotoGP machine he had ridden in his entire career – to a 2023-spec Ducati Desmosedici. Marquez crashed the Ducati fewer times than he crashed on the Honda in 2023. Even though he missed three race weekends in 2023, he still crashed the RC213V 29 times.

The 2023 Ducati proved to be tricky on the 2024-spec Michelin tires, with all of its riders near the top of the chart or suffering injuries due to crashes. Marquez’ brother Alex on the other Gresini Racing GP23 ended the season third on crashes with 21, Marco Bezzecchi on the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing GP23 crashed 18 times, and his teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio missed several races due to crash-related injuries.

Of the full-time riders, Honda’s Luca Marini crashed the fewest times, logging only four falls in 2014.

Zonta van der Goorbergh led the Moto2 class crashers with 18. David Almansa and Filippo Farioli crashed 18 times each to top the Moto3 crash chart.

Riders crashed most frequently at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto, with 74 falls logged over the weekend. 

The total number of crashes fell from 1009 to 865, the lowest number of crashes since the pandemic-shortened season 0f 2020.

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