Noah Dettwiler, who suffered life-threatening injuries in a horrific Moto3 crash last year, made his return to racing last weekend in the CIV Italian Supersport Championship.
The Swiss rider was seriously injured in a terrifying incident at the Moto3 Malaysian Grand Prix in 2025, in a collision on the sighting lap.
Dettwiler’s machine suffered an issue on his way to the grid and was caught unsighted by Jose Antonio Rueda, who slammed into the back of his bike.
The Swiss rider suffered life-threatening injuries, but made an emotional racing return last weekend at Vallelunga in the CIV Supersport series.
Aftermath of Rueda and Dettwiler Moto3 sighting lap incident, 2025 Malaysian MotoGP
“The biggest victory of my career”
Dettwiler was due to continue in Moto3 in 2026 with the SIC58 Squadra Corse, though he was not fit enough to begin the season.
In January, the 21-year-old signed with the Kuja Racing Ducati team in the Italian Supersport Championship and finally made his debut last weekend at Vallelunga.
Dettwiler was given the all-clear to take part ahead of the weekend, almost a year on from his serious accident on 25 October in 2025.
He qualified 11th as he rode on Dunlop tyres for the first time, before finishing in the points in 15th in the race.
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In an interview with German publication Speedweek, he called being cleared to race “the biggest victory of my career”.
“That was incredible after almost a year,” he said.
“But I’ve never been able to practice a start on the Ducati in dry conditions, and I’ve never ridden on Dunlop tyres either, because in all the tests I was on Pirelli tyres, just like those used in the [Moto3] World Championship.
“Even so, getting the go-ahead to race on Friday morning was the biggest victory of my career.
“Now we can make plans and no longer need to worry about the medical check.”
Noah Dettwiler signs for Kuya Racing (pic: Kuja Racing)
Dettwiler “grateful” doctors didn’t let him race sooner
The Swiss rider admits he was frustrated at how long it was taking for him to be cleared to race, but says he is “grateful” for how cautious his doctors were.
“I felt frustrated at times because I wasn’t given the all-clear to race,” Dettwiler told Speedweek.
“But I quickly realised that this wasn’t them making things difficult for me, but that it was in my best interests.
“It would have been too soon to return to racing after such a serious crash…I’m grateful to the doctors for being cautious.”
Lewis joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having been a journalist for five years covering MotoGP for the Motorsport Network. In February of 2026, he became Head of Editorial.