MARQUEZ LEADS HONDA 1-2
On a wet opening day of MotoGP action in Portugal, Marc Marquez led a factory Honda 1-2, with his teammate Pol Espargaro one of only three riders to improve in the final session.
In the combined practice times at the end of Friday’s running Marquez was man on top of the time sheets setting a 1m 50.666s time at the end of p1.
Conditions were worse in FP2, however his Spanish teammate Espargaro was able to improve, just a couple of hundredths behind.
The pair also sat first and second in FP2 as well, asserting their wet weather dominance with Espargaro leading Marquez.
Behind the factory Honda pair in the combined standings was 2020 champion, factory Suzuki rider Joan Mir.
Suzuki team boss Livio Suppo confirmed to pit lane reporter Simon Crafar that Mir was using the rear ride-height device in wet conditions for the very first time and it paid dividends, ending up just 0.041s behind Marquez.
Marco Bezzecchi ended the day fourth on the time sheets but did suffer a highside in the second session.
Likewise, Pramac Ducati rider Johann Zarco crashed in FP2, but he rounded out the top five on the combined standings.
Home hero, Portugese star Miguel Oliveira showed promising pace on the opening day finishing up sixth on his KTM ahead of Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales who week after week is looking more confident on the Aprilia.
Jorge Martin made it two Pramac Racing machines in the top 10, less than 0.05s faster than factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia and his Aussie teammate Aussie Jack Miller who finished third at the last round in America.
There were a number of notable absences from the top 10, reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo’s difficult title defence continued, the factory Yamaha man was only able to find a lap good enough for 20th.
While Mir ended the day as best of the rest behind the Hondas, however his Suzuki teammate Alex Rins who finished second last time out sits a place back in 21st.
Both Quartararo and Rins will be hoping for dry weather for Saturday’s FP3 to improve their lap times.
Aside from Pol Espargaro, the only other two riders to improve were the Yamaha pair of Andrea Dovizioso and Franco Morbidelli
Dovizioso’s 0.5s gain saw him move up from 22nd to 14th and as a result finished as the top Yamaha, Morbidelli did not find as much, 0.1s to jump up a place into 18th.
Due to the rain there were a lot of crashes over the two sessions, Miller, Takaaki Nakagami and Luca Marini all crashed out this morning, with Bagnaia, Bezzecchi and Zarco crashing out in fp2.
Bagnaia lost the front at Turn 3, Bezzecchi suffered a nasty highside at Turn 9 and Zarco was also flung over the handlebars at Turn 2.
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