Rossi and Lorenzo criticise Turn 10 layout changes

It was decided on Friday evening, after Salom's fatal crash at Turn 12 during Moto2 practice, to switch to the Formula 1 layout of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the rest of the weekend.

This involved not only bypassing Turn 12 with a chicane, but also tightening and shortening Turn 10.

Both Yamaha riders complained that the changes harmed their performance on Saturday relative to Friday, when the old layout was in use.

And while Rossi said he agreed with the implementation of the chicane before Turn 12, he questioned the reasoning behind switching to the tighter version of the Turn 10 hairpin.

“There are a lot of points in the season where if you have a problem with the bike, you don’t have enough [run-off] room," the Italian told media.

"I don’t understand why they modify another corner, where nothing happened [Turn 10].

“Personally, Turn 10 you don’t have to change. The run-off area is not a lot, but it’s like this at a minimum of 20 or 30 [other] corners during the season.”

Speaking in the post-qualifying press conference, Lorenzo added: "Turn 10 was not, for me, necessary to change, and these two changes make, finally, our [Yamaha's] life more difficult.

"If it's just for the safety, I agree to the change - but for me, Turn 10 was not worth [changing].

Marquez defends decision

But Marquez, who crashed out of the Catalunya race at Turn 10 in 2014, said that the corner was worth changing to further reduce safety risks.

He said that, among the 10 riders present at the Safety Commission, there was nobody who shared the viewpoint expressed by Rossi and Lorenzo.

"Two years ago, we try [the revised layout] at Turn 10," said the Honda rider. "Everyone was agreed that, for the safety, it was better.

"Every rider that has gone straight [on] there has arrived in the wall or very close to the wall.

"Last year I went wide there, I use banking on the gravel to try to stop, because the wall was [close] already.

"If nothing happened, we don't need to change anything, but it's better to change before the accident. We did it for that reason - and everybody who was there agreed."