Lorenzo retaliates in FP3

In a warm and sunny final practice session before qualifying, Lorenzo took his Yamaha Factory Racing YZR-M1 to the top of the timings with a lap of 1'22.112, which was 0.041s faster than the time set by Dani Pedrosa on his Repsol Honda.

Marco Simoncelli appeared ready to top the timings once more, after leading the previous two free practice sessions and setting the pace in the first part of the heat, until he crashed in turn 11 with 15 minutes to go. He rejoined the session to put down a lap time of 1'22.159, putting him in third in session.

Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda), who finished third in the German GP last year, set his best lap of 1'22.386 to land fourth place, 0.055s ahead of team mate Andrea Dovizioso in fifth. Nicky Hayden, who has more podiums at Sachsenring than any other circuit, followed with a 1'22.500. The Kentuckian was 0.094s quicker than Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) who was seventh.

Ben Spies’ best lap of 1'22.772 placed him eighth, while Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) continued his improving form with a 1'22.841 to put him ninth. Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) followed the Frenchman by 0.277s, completing the top ten riders.

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) was 12th in the field, while Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar), recovering from a crash in FP2 on Friday, was 15th.