Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) at the press conference on Thursday evening – the six-time world champion stacks deep, and he stressed that he didn’t want to fight for victory on the weekend. He’s just happy to be back.

Our live blog from the Portugal GP – first day with Marc Marquez’s 1st exit

Marc Marquez: “I will definitely not be old Marc when I drive my Honda again tomorrow for the first time in 9 months. The point now is to get a good feeling first and to find trust again. Of course, it’s not my first time riding in the rain if it is wet on Friday. But it sure makes my job a lot harder. Watching on TV was incredibly difficult for me, and now it is very important that I can be there again for how long I want. It really is the case that my Honda colleagues, including my brother, had some problems, especially with trust in the Honda front. I have already discussed with the team what is new on the bike. Many things are of course not due to the corona-related development stop, but there were still some improvements this season.”

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) started on Friday morning in Portimão without any reluctance. In the end, however, it was not enough for the best time, while his new team-mate Pol Espargaró was only 4 thousandths behind him.

FP1 – the first best time for Maverick Viñales ahead of Alex Rins and Marc Marquez

The expected sensation did not materialize because two compatriots were able to beat Marc Marquez’s provisional best time in the end. In any case, there is no question of restraint among Marc Marquez. Of course, he also benefited from the fact that shortly before the Losail double race he had privately tested the MotoGP replica from Honda (cost over 100,000 gbp) at the Autodromo do Algarve. Nevertheless, after the PK, not everyone expected a top time for the Repsol Honda returnees in FP1. Johann Zarco continued where he left off in Qatar and was fifth on the best Ducati ahead of “Pecco” Bagnaia, just behind Pol Espargaró. The top ten were completed by Yamaha ace Fabio Quartararo, Jack Miller (Ducati), Alex Marquez (Honda) and Petrux on the only KTM. Below is the ranking after the first free practice.

Pos., Num., Rider, Bike, Km/h, Time, Gap 1st/Prev.
1, 12, Maverick VIÑALES, Yamaha, 330.2, 1’42.127,
2, 42, Alex RINS, Suzuki, 333.3, 1’42.278, 0.151 / 0.151
3, 93, Marc MARQUEZ, Honda, 330.2, 1’42.378, 0.251 / 0.100
4, 44, Pol ESPARGARO, Honda, 337.5, 1’42.382, 0.255 / 0.004
5, 5, Johann ZARCO, Ducati, 342.8, 1’42.443, 0.316 / 0.061
6, 63, Francesco BAGNAIA, Ducati, 334.3, 1’42.464, 0.337 / 0.021
7, 20, Fabio QUARTARARO, Yamaha, 328.2, 1’42.528, 0.401 / 0.064
8, 43, Jack MILLER, Ducati, 341.7, 1’42.536, 0.409 / 0.008
9, 73, Alex MARQUEZ, Honda, 334.3, 1’42.781, 0.654 / 0.245
10, 9, Danilo PETRUCCI, KTM, 329.2, 1’42.957, 0.830 / 0.176
11, 46, Valentino ROSSI, Yamaha, 327.2, 1’43.013, 0.886 / 0.056
12, 30, Takaaki NAKAGAMI, Honda, 333.3, 1’43.036, 0.909 / 0.023
13, 36, Joan MIR, Suzuki, 329.2, 1’43.060, 0.933 / 0.024
14, 21, Franco MORBIDELLI, Yamaha, 329.2, 1’43.243, 1.116 / 0.183
15, 32, Lorenzo SAVADORI, Aprilia, 331.2, 1’43.539, 1.412 / 0.296
16, 89, Jorge MARTIN, Ducati, 338.5, 1’43.702, 1.575 / 0.163
17, 88, Miguel OLIVEIRA, KTM, 334.3, 1’44.000, 1.873 / 0.298
18, 10, Luca MARINI, Ducati, 333.3, 1’44.602, 2.475 / 0.602
19, 27, Iker LECUONA, KTM, 325.3, 1’44.967, 2.840 / 0.365
20, 23, Enea BASTIANINI, Ducati, 332.3, 1’45.325, 3.198 / 0.358
21, 41, Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia, 330.2, 1’45.335, 3.208 / 0.010
22, 33, Brad BINDER, KTM, 331.2, 1’47.774, 5.647 / 2.439

The reigning world champion Joan Mir (Suzuki Ecstar) shortly after Turn 8 at one of the most spectacular parts of the circuit, where the track drops into a dip and the MotoGP riders can hardly keep the front wheel on the ground anymore.

Moto2 FP1: Roberts in front of Gardner, Frenandez & Schrötter – Lowes on P6

Things were very close between Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) and Remy Gardner (Red Bull Ajo Kalex) and in the end the American was just ahead of the Australian. Just behind his teammate Raul Fernandez as the best rookie in front of Schrötter, Canet and World Championship leader Sam Lowes. With Cameron Beaubier, another US boy was able to put himself in the limelight in tenth place, while Marco Bezzecchi did not make it into the top ten. Below is the ranking after the first free practice.
P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time, Gap 1st/Prev.
1, 16, Joe ROBERTS, 282.7, 1’43.905,
2, 87, Remy GARDNER, 285.7, 1’43.946, 0.041 / 0.041
3, 25, Raul FERNANDEZ, 288.0, 1’44.049, 0.144 / 0.103
4, 23, Marcel SCHROTTER, 283.4, 1’44.275, 0.370 / 0.226
5, 44, Aron CANET, 284.2, 1’44.283, 0.378 / 0.008
6, 22, Sam LOWES, 286.4, 1’44.304, 0.399 / 0.021
7, 9, Jorge NAVARRO, 285.7, 1’44.526, 0.621 / 0.222
8, 62, Stefano MANZI, 285.7, 1’44.601, 0.696 / 0.075
9, 11, Nicolò BULEGA, 285.7, 1’44.707, 0.802 / 0.106
10, 6, Cameron BEAUBIER, 288.0, 1’44.714, 0.809 / 0.007
11, 40, Hector GARZO, 284.9, 1’44.780, 0.875 / 0.066
12, 72, Marco BEZZECCHI, 285.7, 1’44.884, 0.979 / 0.104
13, 42, Marcos RAMIREZ, 286.4, 1’44.923, 1.018 / 0.039
14, 97, Xavi VIERGE, 284.2, 1’44.965, 1.060 / 0.042
15, 21, Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO, 290.3, 1’44.998, 1.093 / 0.033
16, 37, Augusto FERNANDEZ, 287.2, 1’45.029, 1.124 / 0.031
17, 35, Somkiat CHANTRA, 284.9, 1’45.030, 1.125 / 0.001
18, 96, Jake DIXON, 282.7, 1’45.198, 1.293 / 0.168
19, 5, Yari MONTELLA, 284.9, 1’45.276, 1.371 / 0.078
20, 79, Ai OGURA, 286.4, 1’45.358, 1.453 / 0.082
21, 75, Albert ARENAS, 286.4, 1’45.366, 1.461 / 0.008
22, 13, Celestino VIETTI, 288.0, 1’45.386, 1.481 / 0.020
23, 14, Tony ARBOLINO, 290.3, 1’45.542, 1.637 / 0.156
24, 12, Thomas LUTHI, 287.2, 1’45.569, 1.664 / 0.027
25, 55, Hafizh SYAHRIN, 282.7, 1’45.723, 1.818 / 0.154
26, 64, Bo BENDSNEYDER, 282.7, 1’45.824, 1.919 / 0.101
27, 19, Lorenzo DALLA PORTA, 287.2, 1’45.892, 1.987 / 0.068
28, 7, Lorenzo BALDASSARRI, 282.7, 1’46.373, 2.468 / 0.481
29, 77, Miquel PONS, 279.0, 1’47.732, 3.827 / 1.359
30, 89, Fraser ROGERS, 279.7, 1’48.801, 4.896 / 1.069

Before FP2 – the sky over the racetrack has grown dark
The day before, damp conditions were predicted from noon, but currently it is dry and only gloomy over the route in the hinterland of the Algarve coast. It is now 1:15 p.m. local time in Portugal and the Moto3 drivers are on the track in much darker conditions than in FP1, but no rain has yet fallen. Compared to the first free practice session, when it was still very humid, the best times after 20 minutes were almost 7 seconds below the value of the early morning. Meanwhile, when the clock is still around 18 minutes, the first raindrops have set in. The track is still mostly dry. With eight minutes to go, Darryn Binder is in P11 and McPhee is 14th. It is now raining properly and no improvements can be expected in the last few minutes. Meanwhile, FP2 is over and subsequently the result.
Moto3 FP2: Gabriel Rodrigo on provisional pole
The drivers listed in italics are currently not directly qualified for the FP2.

P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time, Gap 1st/Prev.
1, 2, Gabriel RODRIGO, 242.6, 1’49.538,
2, 16, Andrea MIGNO, 243.7, 1’50.014, 0.476 / 0.476
3, 5, Jaume MASIA, 241.6, 1’50.042, 0.504 / 0.028
4, 11, Sergio GARCIA, 236.3, 1’50.161, 0.623 / 0.119
5, 55, Romano FENATI, 236.3, 1’50.270, 0.732 / 0.109
6, 37, Pedro ACOSTA, 244.8, 1’50.309, 0.771 / 0.039
7, 24, Tatsuki SUZUKI, 245.4, 1’50.423, 0.885 / 0.114
8, 50, Jason DUPASQUIER, 243.7, 1’50.510, 0.972 / 0.087
9, 7, Dennis FOGGIA, 246.0, 1’50.616, 1.078 / 0.106
10, 23, Niccolò ANTONELLI, 242.1, 1’50.641, 1.103 / 0.025
11, 40, Darryn BINDER, 244.3, 1’50.691, 1.153 / 0.050
12, 53, Deniz ÖNCÜ, 235.2, 1’50.707, 1.169 / 0.016
13, 28, Izan GUEVARA, 237.3, 1’50.775, 1.237 / 0.068
14, 17, John MCPHEE, 232.2, 1’50.859, 1.321 / 0.084
15, 52, Jeremy ALCOBA, 237.8, 1’50.888, 1.350 / 0.029
16, 12, Filip SALAC, 237.8, 1’50.960, 1.422 / 0.072
17, 19, Andi Farid IZDIHAR, 238.9, 1’50.996, 1.458 / 0.036
18, 31, Adrian FERNANDEZ, 243.2, 1’51.126, 1.588 / 0.130
19, 43, Xavier ARTIGAS, 246.5, 1’51.144, 1.606 / 0.018
20, 27, Kaito TOBA, 244.3, 1’51.272, 1.734 / 0.128
21, 54, Riccardo ROSSI, 240.5, 1’51.507, 1.969 / 0.235
22, 99, Carlos TATAY, 241.0, 1’51.523, 1.985 / 0.016
23, 92, Yuki KUNII, 233.7, 1’51.669, 2.131 / 0.146
24, 82, Stefano NEPA, 236.8, 1’51.744, 2.206 / 0.075
25, 6, Ryusei YAMANAKA, 242.6, 1’51.930, 2.392 / 0.186
26, 73, Maximilian KOFLER, 243.2, 1’52.063, 2.525 / 0.133
27, 71, Ayumu SASAKI, 243.7, 1’52.172, 2.634 / 0.109
28, 20, Lorenzo FELLON, 241.6, 1’52.294, 2.756 / 0.122

John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Honda) – Losail’s unlucky fellow, after a slip in Turn 4, after 10 minutes in FP2. In the first double race of the season in Qatar, the Scot was knocked off the saddle by a falling opponent in both races. In FP1 in the morning, the Scot finished third behind the surprisingly strong Deniz Öncü and Filip Salac.

MotoGP FP2: Bagnaia on provisional pole ahead of Quartararo – Marquez on P6

The drivers hit the track for the second free practice at 14:10 local time, and it is as good as dry. On the horizon you can see dark clouds and Takaaki Nakagami had a violent fall at the end of the start-finish straight. The Japanese can stand on their own, but seems to be badly battered. After a good 10 minutes, Fabio Quartararo set a first best time of the day with 1’41.399 and Valentino Rossi is in P6. Most drivers try to get as good a time as possible before things get worse again. After 12 minutes, it is world championship leader Johann Zarco who with P6 clearly missed the hunt for a new record due to a mistake in the last sector. Until shortly before that, it looked like a new peak time for the French and a round later the same game was repeated. At half-time, Bagnaia leads in front of Mir, Quartararo, Rins, Oliveira, Alex Marquez and Zarco.

Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) crashed well before the first corner after the Japanese was brought to the medical center for an examination. Hopefully he didn’t seriously injure himself when he fell at around 300 kph!

The last 20 minutes of MotoGP’s second free practice session
Shortly before that, local hero Oliveira set a new record with a time of 1’41.0138. A little later, Marc Marquez managed the third-best lap up to then. The first to crack the KTM rider’s mark is Alex Rins on a Suzuki. Only shortly afterwards Quartararo succeeds in the first time in 1’41. Before the last 10 minutes begin, it’s Aleix Espargaró, who is ahead of the French with 1’40.907. Behind Rins, Oliveira, Bagnaia, Marc Marquez and Joan Mir. Six and a half minutes before the end, Oliveira creates the new previous record with 1’40.703. However, this time is literally pulverized by Joan Mir with 1’40.285 shortly afterwards. Aleix Espargaró crashes 2 minutes before the end in turn 11 and Pecco Bagnaia manages the first 1’39 time. At the end of the day, Zarco had a machine failure, but before that he had already secured a provisional entry into Q2 with P8. A little later he even found a taxi with Jack Miller back in the box. Despite a slight mistake at Turn 12, Marc Marquez also made it into the top ten, below the result with the drivers in italics who are currently not qualified for Q2.

P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time, Gap 1st/Prev.
1, 63, Francesco BAGNAIA, 341.7, 1’39.866,
2, 20, Fabio QUARTARARO, 329.2, 1’40.206, 0.340 / 0.340
3, 36, Joan MIR, 330.2, 1’40.285, 0.419 / 0.079
4, 42, Alex RINS, 336.4, 1’40.328, 0.462 / 0.043
5, 43, Jack MILLER, 339.6, 1’40.336, 0.470 / 0.008
6, 93, Marc MARQUEZ, 333.3, 1’40.339, 0.473 / 0.003
7, 12, Maverick VIÑALES, 329.2, 1’40.426, 0.560 / 0.087
8, 5, Johann ZARCO, 339.6, 1’40.490, 0.624 / 0.064
9, 88, Miguel OLIVEIRA, 333.3, 1’40.592, 0.726 / 0.102
10, 30, Takaaki NAKAGAMI, 332.3, 1’40.611, 0.745 / 0.019
11, 73, Alex MARQUEZ, 336.4, 1’40.732, 0.866 / 0.121
12, 44, Pol ESPARGARO, 335.4, 1’40.743, 0.877 / 0.011
13, 10, Luca MARINI, 331.2, 1’40.761, 0.895 / 0.018
14, 41, Aleix ESPARGARO, 333.3, 1’40.907, 1.041 / 0.146
15, 46, Valentino ROSSI, 330.2, 1’41.125, 1.259 / 0.218
16, 32, Lorenzo SAVADORI, 338.5, 1’41.140, 1.274 / 0.015
17, 33, Brad BINDER, 337.5, 1’41.183, 1.317 / 0.043
18, 9, Danilo PETRUCCI, 328.2, 1’41.187, 1.321 / 0.004
19, 21, Franco MORBIDELLI, 331.2, 1’41.216, 1.350 / 0.029
20, 23, Enea BASTIANINI, 335.4, 1’41.836, 1.970 / 0.620
21, 27, Iker LECUONA, 330.2, 1’42.461, 2.595 / 0.625
22, 89, Jorge MARTIN, 338.5, 1’42.921, 3.055 / 0.460

Moto2 FP2: Joe Roberts on provisional pole – Lowes and Dixon on course

With 10 minutes left on the clock, Aron Canet climbed back up in turn 5 after a slip and drove back towards the box. Meanwhile, as in the morning, Joe Roberts is at the top ahead of Fernandez, Lowes, Gardner and Bezzecchi. Currently not in the first 14 and therefore not provisionally qualified for Q2 are the Dutchman Bo Bendsneyder and Tom Lüthi. Jake Dixon is one of them with 11th place, while US rookie Cameron Beaubier clearly missed his goal with 21st place. In the end, the American stayed in front and subsequently the result with the drivers in italics who are currently not qualified for Q2.

P, No, Rider, Km/h, Time, Gap 1st/Prev.
1, 16, Joe ROBERTS, 278.3, 1’43.144,
2, 25, Raul FERNANDEZ, 285.7, 1’43.461, 0.317 / 0.317
3, 44, Aron CANET, 278.3, 1’43.752, 0.608 / 0.291
4, 87, Remy GARDNER, 281.2, 1’43.761, 0.617 / 0.009
5, 72, Marco BEZZECCHI, 280.5, 1’43.809, 0.665 / 0.048
6, 40, Hector GARZO, 282.7, 1’43.832, 0.688 / 0.023
7, 22, Sam LOWES, 277.6, 1’43.855, 0.711 / 0.023
8, 75, Albert ARENAS, 283.4, 1’43.866, 0.722 / 0.011
9, 23, Marcel SCHROTTER, 277.6, 1’43.894, 0.750 / 0.028
10, 97, Xavi VIERGE, 279.0, 1’44.001, 0.857 / 0.107
11, 96, Jake DIXON, 277.6, 1’44.046, 0.902 / 0.045
12, 5, Yari MONTELLA, 282.7, 1’44.102, 0.958 / 0.056
13, 37, Augusto FERNANDEZ, 280.5, 1’44.187, 1.043 / 0.085
14, 35, Somkiat CHANTRA, 281.2, 1’44.381, 1.237 / 0.194
15, 12, Thomas LUTHI, 276.2, 1’44.418, 1.274 / 0.037
16, 62, Stefano MANZI, 281.2, 1’44.429, 1.285 / 0.011
17, 11, Nicolò BULEGA, 282.7, 1’44.446, 1.302 / 0.017
18, 42, Marcos RAMIREZ, 281.9, 1’44.447, 1.303 / 0.001
19, 21, Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO, 280.5, 1’44.453, 1.309 / 0.006
20, 9, Jorge NAVARRO, 279.0, 1’44.491, 1.347 / 0.038
21, 79, Ai OGURA, 281.9, 1’44.545, 1.401 / 0.054
22, 6, Cameron BEAUBIER, 282.7, 1’44.564, 1.420 / 0.019
23, 7, Lorenzo BALDASSARRI, 273.4, 1’44.834, 1.690 / 0.270
24, 55, Hafizh SYAHRIN, 276.9, 1’44.917, 1.773 / 0.083
25, 19, Lorenzo DALLA PORTA, 278.3, 1’44.943, 1.799 / 0.026
26, 13, Celestino VIETTI, 277.6, 1’44.985, 1.841 / 0.042
27, 14, Tony ARBOLINO, 279.0, 1’45.053, 1.909 / 0.068
28, 64, Bo BENDSNEYDER, 278.3, 1’45.230, 2.086 / 0.177
29, 77, Miquel PONS, 275.5, 1’46.616, 3.472 / 1.386
30, 89, Fraser ROGERS, 274.8, 1’47.841, 4.697 / 1.225

This live blog is closed now, and we will continue with a new one tomorrow.

The schedule for the weekend for the Portuguese Grand Prix

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