Dovizioso surges forward in warm up

Andrea Dovizioso was the quickest MotoGP rider around a wet Sachsenring on Sunday morning as he warmed up with the best time of the 20-minute session ahead of the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. The Repsol Honda rider’s time of 1’31.638 placed him 0.250s clear at the top of the timesheet.

In cool conditions (ambient air temperature 16ºC, track 21ºC), Casey Stoner (Ducati Team) was next up, with pole position holder and Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) third at a further 0.153s back on the Australian as the premier class field set their bikes up accordingly.

Front row starter Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) completed the top five, with Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) sixth. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) was in clear discomfort during the session following his crash in QP yesterday but still managed to admirably match his grid position of seventh.

Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha), who will start from fifth on the grid, was ninth in the warm up as he opted to avoid any risks on the wet surface, which was starting to dry out slowly as the rain stopped, with forecasts predicting dry conditions for this afternoon’s race which starts at 2pm local time.