The decision was taken following on from the death of Salom during Moto2 practice on Friday, which occurred after the Spaniard fell from his bike at the high-speed right-hander Turn 12.

It is understood that MotoGP riders were unhappy about the prospect of having to use a corner where there is no gravel to slow down the bike in the event of a crash – only tarmac run-off.

As such, following a meeting of the Safety Commission, riders will now follow the path used by F1 since the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix, the first edition of the race to use the chicane that bypasses Turn 12.

The F1 layout also features a shortened and sharper version of Turn 10, the left-hander hairpin at the end of the back straight, which has more tarmac run-off.

This will also be used for the remainder of the MotoGP weekend, reducing the circuit length from 4.727km to 4.655km. The layout was briefly sampled by riders in a post-race test in 2014.

To afford the riders more time to practice using the revised layout, Saturday morning's free practice session has been extended to one hour, running from 0950 to 1050 local time.