Stats: Johann Zarco stays top of MotoGP falls list

After recording the highest number of MotoGP falls last season, Johann Zarco remained top of the list during the shorted 2020 world championship.

The Frenchman fell 17 times last year, while missing three of 19 events as he switched from KTM to LCR Honda.

Zarco then moved to Avintia Ducati for 2020, where official statistics compiled by MotoGP.com show he fell 15 times across the 14-rounds, the most costly of which left him with a fractured scaphoid and back-of-the grid start penalty after a terrifying tangle with Franco Morbidelli in Austria.

Zarco's 2020 fall total was just one higher than Repsol Honda rookie Alex Marquez (14), with Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro suffering 12 crashes.

At the other end of the scale, Danilo Petrucci made the least mistakes (and avoided the bad luck of being taken down by others) by falling just twice. Factory Ducati team-mate Andrea Dovizioso and Monster Yamaha's Maverick Vinales were next best with four falls each:

The abbreviated calendar unsurprisingly meant total falls dropped to 722 across all three grand prix classes - MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 – this year, although the crash rate per event rose slightly for both MotoGP (11.6 to 12.8) and Moto2 (18.3 to 19.4).

On the other hand, Moto3's average dropped from a record 21.3 per event last year to 16.6 this year.

A unique feature of this year's (all-European) emergency 'Covid' MotoGP calendar was the use of back-to-back events at the same circuit (Jerez, Red Bull Ring, Misano, Aragon, Valencia). The second of those events saw fewer accidents than the first for all but Misano.

In general, weather conditions were better than last year, and there were no wild-card entries, but riders also faced the physical and mental challenge of 14 races packed into just 19 weeks, including three triple-headers.

Malaysian Moto2 rider Kasma Daniel fell more times than any other rider across all grand prix classes, with 20 crashes. Speed Up's Jorge Navarro was just one behind, with Gabriel Rodrigo leading the Moto3 list on 18.

Moto2 and Moto3 competed over 15 rounds, having been able to start the season in Qatar.

Once again, the most treacherous round of the season was the French Grand Prix.

Le Mans topped last year's falls list with 90 crashes, which rose to 100 accidents in 2020, partly due to wet weather. That number is still well below the 155 falls seen at Valencia in 2018.

Turn 3 (the first chicane) at Le Mans was again the most dangerous corner of the season, although the total number of accidents dropped slightly from 32 to 30. Turn 2 at Catalunya followed with 21 accidents.

The 'safest' event this season (excluding Qatar, which did not feature the MotoGP class) was Portimao with 32 falls during its inaugural grand prix weekend.

Otherwise, FP2 caught out the most MotoGP riders, FP3 saw the most Moto2 accidents with FP1 the highest for Moto3 falls. The 20-minute warm-up sessions saw the least accidents for MotoGP and Moto3, but proved riskier than qualifying for Moto2.