2024 Portuguese MotoGP, Portimao - Friday Practice Results

*Rookie.

Official Portimao MotoGP records    
Best lap: Marc Marquez 1m 37.226s (2023)    
Fastest race lap: Aleix Espargaro 1m 38.872s (2023) 

Enea Bastianini leads Jack Miller in Friday afternoon practice for the Portimao MotoGP.

Miller fought back from an early fall while Marc Marquez held third despite a late accident, with the Monster Yamahas of Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins also in the top ten for direct Qualifying 2 access.

However, the likes of rookie star Pedro Acosta and Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro will need to take part in Saturday's Qualifying 1.

With the track continuing to improve after this morning’s dust and damp patches, Marc Marquez’s morning best of 1m 40.484s was soon eclipsed.

Brad Binder was threatening the 1m 38s by the midway stage, but Marquez was also keeping pace with the fastest improvers and took over from the KTM rider at the halfway stage of the hour.

Reigning title runner-up Jorge Martin who was first into the ‘38s, the Pramac Ducati rider staying in command until time attacks began with 20mins to go.

Marc Marquez then put in a new soft rear and vaulted back to the top, initially exactly matching Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales with a 1m 38.629s before pulling clear on his own.

The #93 was shuffled back to fifth as the final ten minutes began, then rebounded with second behind Bastianini ahead of the final run.

Both Marquez brothers left the pits together, with the likes of Joan Mir and Bagnaia just ahead, but Marc then got out of shape under braking and lost the front of hsi GP23 at the off camber Turn 5 hairpin.

It was only his second accident on a Desmosedici and first in a grand prix weekend. 

But Marquez was all smiles when he walked back to the Gresini garage having already done enough to safely sail through to Qualifying 2 directly, and later seemed to signal his ride height device had deactivated a little abruptly during the accident.

World champion and Qatar winner Bagnaia needed his final lap to break into the top ten while the likes of Acosta, plus Alex Marquez and Aleix Espargaro - who both fell in separate incidents as the final ten minutes began - couldn’t keep their grasp on a crucial top ten.

Franco Morbidelli, who was knocked unconscious in a superbike accident at Portimao in January, walked away from a fast accident after losing the front in the closing minutes of the afternoon.

Fellow VR46 Academy rider Luca Marini soon joined him in the Turn 8 gravel and finished the session in last place on his Repsol Honda. Takaaki Nakagami was the top RC213V in 16th.

*Rookie.

Official Portimao MotoGP records    
Best lap: Marc Marquez 1m 37.226s (2023)    
Fastest race lap: Aleix Espargaro 1m 38.872s (2023) 

Marc Marquez tops opening practice for the Portuguese MotoGP at a damp and dirty Portimao, following overnight rain.

Even without the slippery track conditions, the lack of any pre-season testing compared to the Qatar opener meant this morning’s session was already hard to predict.

Rookie Pedro Acosta defied his lack of MotoGP experience at the circuit to take over from Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo at the head of the timesheets during the middle stages.

Jack Miller, Marc Marquez, home hero Miguel Oliveira, Marc Marquez again and then Maverick Vinales - suffering from “a simple gastroenteritis with very mild symptoms” this morning - put Aprilia ahead.

But it didn’t last long with Qatar runner-up Brad Binder, riding with some new seat aero on the side of his RC16, moving into P1 before Marc Marquez delivered his 1m 40.484s on his final lap.

That time was several seconds off the 1m 38.872s by Aleix Espargaro in last year’s grand prix, with Marquez’s Repsol Honda pole record a 1m 37.226s. 

But the eight-time world champion will surely be satisfied with how his base set-up from Sepang and Qatar, where he finished fourth on his Ducati debut, adapted to a brand new circuit. 

With no further rain forecast, lap times are likely to be significantly faster as the track cleans further this afternoon. 

Nonetheless, Franco Morbidelli - who missed all of pre-season testing after a training accident at Portimao in January - put some demons to rest with fifth place, just ahead of Pramac Ducati team-mate Jorge Martin.

Miller finished the session by entertaining the fans with a big jump over the crest after turn 8.

Revised tyre pressure rules for 2024 mean riders must now stay above a lower front minimum of 1.8 bar (instead of 1.88) for 60% (instead of 50%) of a Grand Prix distance, or 30% of a Sprint.

The penalty for failing to meet this minimum in a Grand Prix will be a 16-second post-race time penalty, or an 8-second penalty for a Sprint/short race.