WorldSBK, Bautista 2021 "crash king"

Dorna has circulated an email with some statistics that may seem a little crude but that are interesting if analysed carefully. The tables detail all the crashes suffered during the 2021 SBK season, across all categories, along with the name of the rider, the circuit and the weather conditions.

The "Falls Report" is divided into coloured bands. The first section regards full on crashes: 159 in Superbike, up on the 2019 total when there were 134. The 2020 season saw just 109, but that championship only comprised eight rounds.

Supersport "boasts" 197 crashes, 25 more than in 2019. Supersport 300 has seen 220 this year, but it should also be noted that this category fields the greatest number of bikes and riders. Nevertheless, they have done a lot better than in 2019, when the number of crashes totalled 278. So, the overall 2021 total is 632 crashes, including 11 in the Yamaha R3 Cup, few very considering the six races and the young riders’ ages.

2021 falls: Alvaro Bautista the unenviable winner

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Let’s start by saying that, luckily, the Spaniard is fine and hasn’t sustained any serious injuries, but it is he, Alvaro Bautista, who fell most often during the 2021 season. The Honda rider crashed on 12 occasions, proving just how hard he was pushing the CBR RR-R.

Second on the rostrum is Lucas Mahias, with 11 falls. The Frenchman made his Superbike debut with Puccetti this season, though was forced to sit out several rounds due to an injury sustained mid-season. The bronze medal goes to Garrett Gerloff, the American Yamaha GRT rider, who counts 10 crashes, as does his team-mate, Japanese rider Kohta Nozane.

Leon Haslam and Alex Lowes close on 9, Chaz Davies on 8, and Christophe Ponsson and Michael Van Der Mark with 7. Andrea Locatelli, Leandro Mercado, Jonathan Rea, Scott Redding, and Tom Sykes all suffered 6. Tito Rabat and Michael Ruben Rinaldi fell 5 times, Axel Bassani and Eugene Laverty 4 times, while Samuele Cavalieri, Loris Cresson, and Jonas Folger all did equally as well as Toprak Razgatlioglu, with just three crashes each. And who crashed least of all? Isaac Vinales - just once in fact.

Niki Tuuli "on top" in Supersport

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We won’t bore you with the entire list, but we will at least reveal the podium-sitters. On top we have Niki Tuuli, competing for the MV Agusta Reparto Corse Clienti team, who crashed on 13 occasions. He is followed by Kawasaki Orelac rider Raffaele De Rosa, with 12.

Third is a tie between Federico Caricasulo, Can Oncu and Vertii Takala, all on 10. And just look at how strong Dominique Aegerter was - the current world champion, despite the Yamaha R6 and Pirelli tyres being totally new to him, crashed just once. And he even spent some of the season aboard the very different MotoE bike...

Supersport 300, infinite crashes but Perez Gonzalez reigns supreme

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We’ll settle for the key data here, considering the sheer length of the list in this case. Out front is Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez, who suffered twelve crashes, followed by Harry Khouri and Bahattin Sofuoglu.

Champion Adrian Huertas hit the deck on just 3 occasions, very few considering he was generally fighting out front amidst a frenzied field. Italian Filippo Palazzi crashed once, as did Dorren Loureiro, Miguel Santiago Duarte and Victor Steeman. In the Yamaha R3 Cup, Humberto Maier amassed 5 crashes.

Aragón the most insidious track followed by Estoril and Misano

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Dorna has done an impressive job because the stats are extremely comprehensive. In terms of the circuits that saw the most accidents, Aragón is out front. Motorland brought some very unstable weather with alternating sun and rain, and wind that left sand on the track. The most critical point of the track is shown above.

The Spanish track saw 55 crashes in all - 9 in Superbike, 20 in Supersport, and 26 in Supersport 300. Next on the list is Estoril, with 15 crashes, all of which in the top class. Misano is third, the event having run in very hot conditions.

Translated by Heather Watson

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