MOTOGP: BAGNAIA ON TOP IN PORTIMAO

At the end of the opening day of MotoGP action in Portugal, factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia topped the timesheets.

The Italian was comfortably faster than the rest of the field, with his nearest challenger being the most recent MotoGP race winner Fabio Quartararo 0.34s off the pace.

Despite Bagnaia’s impressive time, it was the returning six-time champion Marc Marquez who stole the show, after nine months on the sidelines with an arm injury he ended practice 2 in sixth.

Just 12 days after undergoing arm pump surgery Aussie Jack Miller is yet to fully recover, nevertheless he is in the hunt this weekend, the Queenslander set a time 0.47s off the pace of his teammate Bagnaia, enough to end the day in fifth.

On combined times three manufacturers held the top three positions, Bagnaia on his Ducati on top ahead of Quartararo on the #20 factory Yamaha and reigning champion Joan Mir riding a Suzuki. Mir’s teammate Rins was fourth, 0.008s faster than Miller.

Marquez turned heads with his final laps of the day, giving 100% the Spaniard slid and bucked his Honda to sixth on the timesheets.

Yamaha man Maverick Vinales was seventh ahead of championship leader Johann Zarco and Portuguese rider Miguel Olivera, the man who won at the venue last year.

Incredibly Takaaki Nakagami rounded out the top 10, this was after the Japanese rider crashed heavily in the opening minutes of the session.

Nakagami had to visit the medical centre for checks before being cleared to jump back on the bike. The LCR Honda rider missed a lot of the session but still ended up in 10th.

Outside of the top 10 was his teammate Alex Marquez, Pol Espargaro, rookie Luca Marini and Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro who crashed with a couple of minutes remaining.

The Petronas Yamaha riders continue their incredibly challenging start to the season with Valentino Rossi in 15th, and 2020 championship runner-up Franco Morbidelli in 19th.

Everyone was comfortably faster in the second session, but it was Round 1 winner Vinales that topped p1 from Rins and Marquez.

Qualifying starts at 11.10pm AEST tonight and will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 507.

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