Le Mans exceeds 100 falls again and breaks its record

The French track became a carousel of crashes from the first free practice on Friday in Moto3. With the asphalt still wet, Andrea Migno opened the account by kissing the asphalt when barely two minutes of FP1 had been consumed. In total, 17 accidents were seen in that training, a preamble to what was to come.

The conditions improved and at the start of MotoGP there were barely two crashes, the same as in Moto2 later. Friday closed with 44, 17 at turn 3 (Dunlop chicane), the most critical point of the World Championship.

Although on Saturday things calmed down and Moto2 FP3 even finished clean, in total there were 33 crashes. On Sunday, the number rose to 40 again, leaving 117 in the overall count of the three categories.

Marc Márquez and Pedro Acosta, among the most injured

The Moto3 leader arrived in France with only one crash to his credit, but his weekend was particularly eventful. Acosta crashed twice in FP1, once in FP2 and once in the race. Despite everything he was able to rejoin and finish eighth.

Crash of Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Ajo

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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Márquez suffered worse luck. Of his four falls, two came on the run and the last one left him KO. The two Spaniards, along with Andi Farid Izdihar and the wild card Takuma Matsuyama , were the ones who fell the most in the entire Grand Prix.

On the opposite side of the scale are Brad Binder, Luca Marini, Miguel Oliveira, Valentino Rossi, Barry Baltus, Bo Bendsneyder, Remy Gardner , Jason Dupasquier, Izan Guevara, Ayumu Sasaki and Stefano Nepa, who left Le Mans without a single drop. Especially striking is the case of the Australian Gardner, who in addition to finishing second and being the leader in Moto2, is the only rider in the entire World Championship who has not yet crashed once this year.

Le Mans is once again above 100 falls

The historic circuit in the northwest of France is one of the ones that accumulates the most falls season after season. Last year, when the Grand Prix was held in October, the figure went up to 100, the most, as in 2019, with 90. A year before, the hundred was also exceeded, 109.

The pilots ask for a change of date. One of those who claimed it was MotoGP leader Fabio Quartararo .

“If we put Le Mans later on the calendar it would be better. Here it is appropriate to come just before the summer holidays. In the last 10 years it has been cold and rainy and it is better to move it on the calendar. It would be safer, because In these conditions there are two or three corners where it is very easy to lose the front end and crash”. opined. “I would like them to change the date of Le Mans, it is very cold at this time of year. It is a very nice circuit and you enjoy it in good weather, but with these conditions we cannot see good races,” said his teammate Maverick Viñales, who as the French added the first fall of the course there.