Top MotoGP riders blame weather for crashes at Sachsenring

Three riders including world champion Jorge Lorenzo crashed in the first session, while pacesetter Maverick Vinales was one of two who fell in the afternoon.

The right-hander follows a series of seven left-hand corners, and Michelin has developed an asymmetric front tyre with a softer right shoulder to provide more grip.

While Lorenzo believes the tyres were too hard, saying "even if I was going 30km/h slower than last year, I crashed anyway," several rivals believed it was more to do with summer temperatures in the low-teens.

"This corner will [always] be like this, with Michelin, Bridgestone or another tyre," Honda's Marc Marquez said.

"Today the conditions were extremely cold.

"I didn't remember riding in this temperature, also it was windy on this corner that makes it more difficult.

"We will see if the temperature goes up it will be much safer, but already last year, we had many crashes."

Warmer conditions are forecast for the balance of the weekend, but rain is a possibility for race day on Sunday.

Valentino Rossi agreed that weather was the underlying factor, even though the sequence leading up to Turn 11 does test tyres.

"The problem is left, left, left right, so every lap you arrive there it's very scary," he said.

"One lap yes, one lap no, [for] yellow flags and parts going everywhere and riders that are walking away.

"It's not a good feeling. Every time you arrive there you have to slow down because it's scary.

"It's very fast and you have the feeling that if you try more you can crash."

MORE RESPECT REQUIRED

Tech3 Yamaha rider Bradley Smith also believes weather was the primary cause of the Friday accidents, but he suggested riders could exercise more caution.

"If there was a wet patch or something like that, people would take care," he said.

"You have to treat 11 like there's a wet patch and nobody wants to. I can understand that.

"Everyone who crashed today had their knee touching or millimetres away from touching [the ground].

"That means that they are carrying too much angle for that corner.

"You can go through that corner with the bike upright, you don't have to carry that lean angle.

"But if you carry acceleration and you flick it from left and you go right and you are more aggressive, the problem starts."