Epidemiology of injuries in the 2014 MotoGP World Championship: The "Clinica Mobile" experience

Background: The MotoGP World Championship is the worldwide premier class of motorcycle road racing, divided in three competition classes: MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3. Material and methods: This study investigates the incidence, pattern, relative risk, and external factors affecting injuries recorded by the "Clinica Mobile" Medical Team during the 2014 season. A total of 101 elite motorcycle competitors were followed during the entire season. A general encounter-related database has been created: the data included age, experience, date of injury, injury diagnosis, mechanism of injury, protective gear used and total time lost of participation. Results: One hundred and ninety-one injuries were recorded during the study timeframe: 28 were major injuries (14.6% of total encounters). The most common major injuries were fractures (9.9%), followed by joint dislocations. The overall injury rate in the MotoGP group was 4.14 per 1000 practice kilometers and 3.8 per 1000 race kilometers and the death rate was zero. Moto2 and Moto3 riders showed a higher injury risk than MotoGP riders. Conclusions: This study showed that, in the MotoGP World Championship, both deaths and serious injuries are rare but improvement of safety rules for practice sessions and the development of more effective safety gear are keys to further reduce the incidence of those accidents.