Rossi questions whether Sachsenring safe enough for MotoGP

Rossi at Sachsenring

Valentino Rossi has questioned the safety of the Sachsenring layout following a spate of heavy crashes during the MotoGP weekend.

Championship protagonists Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa were both forced to sit out Sunday's race as a result of injuries sustained in heavy highsides during practice.

Andrea Dovizioso, Nicky Hayden, Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Iannone and Bryan Staring were among a list of other riders to fall, with the sixth-gear right-hander of Turn 11 the chief area for incidents.

Rossi admitted it was impossible to ignore the magnitude and frequency of such crashes, particularly when they were localized at a section of track the Italian believes is "very dangerous."

Asked if the crashes weighed on his approach, Rossi said: "Yeah — every crash, you are more scared. For me, that corner [Turn 11] is very dangerous. It is very fast, going downhill, and you are coming from seven or eight left turns, so the right part of the tire is cool.

"That corner you have to arrive at the right speed lap by lap, practice by practice — you cannot just arrive, bang. In the morning I started to push, but then you get yellow flags for the crash of Iannone. Also with the crash of Cal, I don't expect because it's my bike.

"I think that with a Yamaha it is more difficult to crash there, but Cal crashed, so it's scary."

Rossi added that Lorenzo's shunt, which came at the exit of Turn 10, was also dangerous because his bike had slid down the hill and was unsighted as Rossi approached.

"I was very lucky that I slowed down," Rossi explained, "because if not I arrive with the bike in the centre of the track, so it's very dangerous. I don't know which way we can improve the situation." Racer.com