Marquez third on return in Vinales-led Portimao practice

Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales topped the opening practice session of MotoGP’s Portuguese Grand Prix at Portimao, as Marc Marquez made his long-awaited return.

Morning rain had left lots of damp patches on the circuit for the start of the session, and though riders elected to run on slicks right away, initial pace was some 10 seconds off the corresponding session from last year’s event.

Heading out of the pits after five minutes of FP1 had elapsed, Honda rider Marquez wound up for his first flying lap but immediately went straight on at Turn 1.

But a few laps later, with riders circulating at vastly different speeds, Marquez’s name finally popped up near the top of the timesheets, as he lapped just 0.061s behind leader Francesco Bagnaia before ending his run.

By the time Marquez returned to the track towards the end of the session, he’d been shuffled down to 11th and three seconds off the pace, with Qatar GP winner Vinales and Bagnaia trading fastest times out front.

And though Marquez again ran very wide at Turn 1 on his very first flyer, he was immediately on the pace with his follow-up attempt, and briefly popped up into first place with four minutes left on the clock.

He then reclaimed the top spot as the chequered flag fell, only to be pipped by a tenth of a second by Suzuki rider Alex Rins – who was then surpassed by a last-gasp effort from Vinales.

Vinales’ 1m42.127s benchmark was two seconds off what KTM’s eventual race winner Miguel Oliveira had managed in FP1 at Portimao last year.

Marquez’s new factory Honda team-mate Pol Espargaro was just 0.004s behind the six-time MotoGP champion in fourth, while the works-spec Ducatis of Johann Zarco and Francesco Bagnaia followed.

Vinales’ team-mate Fabio Quartararo and Bagnaia’s team-mate Jack Miller – who had a big moment on the bike early in the session – completed a top eight split by just four tenths.

The KTM contingent was led by Danilo Petrucci on 10th place, one spot behind Marquez’s brother Alex Marquez on the LCR-run Honda.

Lorenzo Savadori was the top Aprilia in 15th, with team-mate Aleix Espargaro limiting himself to just a single run late on.

Practice 1 Results