ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Injuries in elite motorcycle racing in Japan

Y Tomida¹, H Hirata², A Fukuda², M Tsujii², K Kato¹, K Fujisawa¹ and A Uchida²

¹ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Suzuka Kaisei General Hospital, Tsu City, Japan
² Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Mie University School of Medicine, Tsu City, Japan

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr Hirata
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Mie University School of Medicine, 2-174 Edobashi, Tsu City 514-8507, Japan; h-hirata{at}clin.medic.mie-u.ac.jp

Objectives: To investigate the incidence and pattern of injuries, relative risks, and factors affecting incidence among elite motorcycle competitors in Japan.

Methods: A total of 117 elite motorcycle competitors including 36 road racers, 60 motocross racers, and 21 trial bike riders completed a questionnaire about injuries.

Results: Sixty major injuries (25 in road racing, 32 in motocross, and three in trial bike riding) were reported. The most common injuries were fractures (45), followed by ligament injuries (8), dislocations (5), and soft tissue injuries (2). The overall injury rate was 22.4 per 1000 hours, and the death rate was zero. There was no significant correlation between risk of injury and age, experience, or accumulated competition points.

Conclusions: Injury rates in competitions such as road racing and motocross are high, and therefore additional safety measures are needed to protect competitors from injury.

Keywords: motorcycle racing; injury; injury rate; risk factor

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