Portuguese GP: Marquez leads Honda 1-2 at Portimao rollercoaster

Bengaluru, April 23: At the end of a wet and somewhat windy Friday at the Portuguese GP, it is a Repsol Honda 1-2, with six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez top of the pile and followed closely by team-mate Pol Espargaro.

In third but a few tenths further back came 2020 MotoGP world champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), already no stranger to the podium at Portimao.

Both sessions for the premier class were wet, as was the whole day on the Algarve.

Portuguese GP: Stage set for Portimao rollercoaster Portuguese GP: Stage set for Portimao rollercoaster

Repsol Honda have literally set the benchmark in Portugal as tricky conditions plagued the day and deteriorated into the afternoon meaning only three riders were able to improve in the afternoon.

Espargaro was able to get within just 0.041 of a second of Marquez, but the Spaniard's 1:50.666 in the final moments of FP1 was good enough to hold on to top spot through to the close of the day's action.

The pair also sat first and second in FP2 as well, asserting their early Portimao dominance even further.

The other two riders to improve from FP1 were the Yamaha pair of Andrea Dovizioso (WithU Yamaha RNF) and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP).

Dovizioso's half a second gain saw him move up from 22nd to 14th and, as a result, take the honour of top Yamaha on a tough day for the blue brand, whereas Morbidelli found a tenth to jump up a place into 18th.

THE TOP TEN:
1. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) - 1:50.666
2. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.041
3. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.0365
4. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.470
5. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) + 0.504
6. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.557
7. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.643
8. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) + 0.677
9. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.721
10. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.771

New device

Behind the Repsol Honda pairing in the combined standings was factory Suzuki's Joan Mir. Team boss Livio Suppo confirmed that he was using the rear ride-height device in wet conditions for the first time and it clearly helped as the Team Suzuki Ecstar man clinched a top three spot.

Despite their crashes in the afternoon, Marco Bezzecchi ended up fourth with Johann Zarco a place behind in fifth.

Home hero

Home hero Miguel Oliveira showed promising pace on the opening day in sixth ahead of Aprilia's Maverick Vinales and Pramac Racing's Jorge Martin.

The factory Ducati duo of Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller rounded out the top ten on the first day in Portimao.

Better conditions

MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo's struggles continued as he was only able to find a lap good enough for 20th, whereas form man Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) sits a place back in 21st.

The pair will be hoping for better conditions on Saturday with the forecast, to their delight, looking promising at this moment in time.

Ready for rollercoaster

MotoGP will return to the Algarve International Circuit for a vital FP3 session at 10.55am local time (3.25pm IST) on Saturday to decide those going straight through to Q2, where all 25 riders will aim to make the absolute most of some more favourable weather.

The qualifying then gets underway from 2.10pm local time (6.40pm IST). Don't miss it as the rollercoaster gets ready to serve up another classic encounter!

(By a special arrangement with Dorna Sports)