Other riders were also starting to make headway with less than 20 minutes to go, Maverick Vinales and Andrea Dovizioso putting in personal best times on the hard rear tyres to cement their positions in the top ten after finish P5 and P6 respectively in FP1, before Rins then shot himself to P1 with under ten minutes to go. The soft rear tyres were then put in and straight away, nine-time Sachsenring winner Marquez set the timing screen alight to go 0.3 clear.

A personal best lap time from Quartararo was put in but he remained third before teammate Franco Morbidelli ruined his next flying lap after cruising on the racing line in the first sector. Then, on his final flying lap, Quartararo was again left frustrated after catching a riding wounded Takaaki Nakagami – Day 1 honours would go to Marquez.

Rins would keep his P2 to improve from his P4 in FP1, just the start the Spaniard would have been looking for after his Assen crash, with Quartararo settling for P3. Vinales ends Friday in P4, 0.488 back from Marquez, with Pol Espargaro completing the top five after going well on the soft rear tyre in FP2 – the Spaniard improving from a P11 in FP1.

Cal Crutchlow, despite riding with a right knee and tibia injury, had a solid day at the office to finish sixth overall, a nice jump from P10 in the morning session. Jack Miller was a late improver to finish seventh, the Australian staying put after finishing seventh in FP1 to lead the Desmosedici charge.