Xaus, Bataille and Pasini the crash kings

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Xaus, Bataille and Pasini the crash kings so far

News, 14/08/04

With just nine rounds gone in the MotoGP World Championship, the total number of crashes for the season threatens to be one of the highest ever. In the MotoGP, 250 and 125 classes there have been a total of 406 crashes so far, less than 300 short of last year’s total of 705.

In the MotoGP class the man to have hit the deck most times is rookie Ruben Xaus, who has lost control of his Ducati Desmosedici on eleven occasions – an average of more than once per weekend. Next on the list is Marco Melandri, who has been involved in seven crashes – the most recent being a fall at Donington Park which broke a bone in his hand and forced him to miss the race.

Eric Bataille tops the list in the 250cc class, having racked up fourteen crashes on his BQR Honda – five more than nearest ‘contender’ Jakub Smrz. Bataille looks well on course to beat his personal record of sixteen crashes from last season, although first he will have to recover from the injuries sustained in his latest incident at the Sachsenring, which kept him out of the Cinzano British Grand Prix.

However, the man with most hits so far this season is 125cc rookie Mattia Pasini, who has tasted the gravel on no fewer than fifteen occasions – six more than Lukas Pesek, Roberto Locatelli, Mike Di Meglio, Alvaro Bautista and Marco Simoncelli.