MotoGP’s return to German comes as part two of a triple-header prior to the summer shutdown, which began last week with the Italian GP at Mugello.
Unsettled weather forecasts for the Sachsenring weekend proved correct on Friday morning as light rain midway through FP1 interrupted proceedings.
While it called a brief pause to the action, the weather didn’t spoil an enthralling end to the session as lap times tumbled with the field putting in fresh soft rubber for a time attack.
Zarco emerged fastest of all from this phase with a 1m20.702s set with just a minute left on the clock.
A frantic opening five minutes of FP1 saw Zarco set the initial pace on his Pramac Ducati with a 1m22.458s.
He was quickly deposed by Nakagami with a 1m21.800s, before the Japanese rider improved to a 1m21.636s.
Jorge Martin took to the top of the times for the first time with around 37 minutes left on the clock, as he posted a 1m21.596s on his Ducati.
That was beaten by Marc Marquez on a 1m21.574s, though the eight-time world champion clearly wasn’t settle on his Honda after a big scare rounding Turn 7 in the opening stages.
As Marquez went to the top of the timesheets, Aprilia’s injured Aleix Espargaro – who is carrying a double fracture in his foot after a cycling accident in Mugello – slid off his RS-GP braking for Turn 1.
Espargaro was unharmed in the incident as he trudged away and re-joined the session later on.
Source: Autosport