Portuguese MotoGP, Portimao Practice 1 | Bastianini makes poignant return to top of MotoGP timesheets

Enea Bastianini enjoyed a satisfying turn at the top of the timesheets come the conclusion of Friday Practice for the Portuguese MotoGP, the Italian leading the way at Portimao from Jack Miller and Marc Marquez.

A welcome boost for the four-time MotoGP race winner, hs performance marks the first time Bastianini has led the way on the Friday Practice timesheets since back in 2022.

Indeed, it was at Portimao where Bastianini’s entire 2023 MotoGP campaign was all-but-ruined just two laps into the opening race of the season when he suffered a complex shoulder injury in a collision with Luca Marini.

Twelve months on and Bastianini would get to lead the Ducati contingent at the end of the hour-long session, held in cool but dry conditions following the morning’s sketchier track surface concerns.

Hitting the top of the timesheets with ten minutes of the session remaining, Bastianini takes a 1m 38.057secs lap into Saturday morning’s Q2 session, exactly a tenth faster than Jack Miller, who shrugged off a crash early on in the session at Turn 5 to hold down second on the factory KTM.

FP1 pace setter Marc Marquez proved just as quick in the balmier afternoon conditions and might have stood to end the day fastest of all but for a low-side in the closing stages at the Turn 5 Torre left-hander.

Jorge Martin booked his place in Q2 in fourth, the Spaniard comfortably through with Brad Binder in fifth place and Marco Bezzecchi in sixth, the Italian at last finding his feet on the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Ducati GP23 to haul himself into Q2 directly.

Maverick Vinales flew the flag for Aprilia as the only RS-GP rider to breach the top ten, last year’s podium winner left to carry the baton after Aleix Espargaro lost time with a spill at Turn 4 late on.

Pecco Bagnaia made it at least five Ducati riders into Q2, even if the defending champion was made to rely on a last gasp improvement to lift him into the top ten.

If eighth will leave Bagnaia underwhelmed heading into Saturday, the same cannot be said for Yamaha after it squeezed both of its M1s into Q2 automatically with Fabio Quartararo in ninth and Alex Rins in tenth.

With the Q2 top ten decided, those heading to Q1 tomorrow morning include Espargaro, Fabio di Giannantonio, Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta, the teenager unable to match his celebrated result on Friday in Qatar a fortnight ago.

🇵🇹 ⏱️ 2024 Portuguese MotoGP, Portimao | Practice 1 Results

Friday | Conditions – Dry, Cloudy