Conditions floated between wet and dry throughout Friday in Germany, never fully wet and rarely fully dry. Jorge Lorenzo’s (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) day got off to a difficult start, as he was one of several riders to fall at the difficult Turn 11. The crash came in Free Practice 1 and sent the Mallorcan to the Clinica Mobile for an X-Ray on his left hand as a precautionary measure. The reigning World Champion was cleared of any fractures but chose not to head back out until the second session of the day.
Hard crash this morning, but for the moment we can continue riding. #GermanGP pic.twitter.com/5pU0Vqx0it
— Jorge Lorenzo (@lorenzo99) July 15, 2016
During the second session Lorenzo was able to improve his time by over a second and a half, ending FP2 with a 1’23.824. The time put him a distant 16th on the combined times and 1.663s behind Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar). After struggling home to tenth in Assen, this is exactly the opposite of what Lorenzo was hoping for. Can Lorenzo find his confidence again if the sun comes back out on Saturday? All of the Yamaha riders are having massive issues in Germany, Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) the leading Yamaha in 11th.
Jorge Lorenzo: “It looks like these are very cold and slippery conditions and you have to be very careful with the tyres. This morning I had a crash going downhill so to be honest I didn‘t get good confidence in any of the corners of the track and I felt really slow. All the Yamahas are struggling at the moment in these conditions and I‘m the slowest one, so let‘s see if we can improve our speed. My physical condition after the crash is OK and will not be a problem for Sunday.”