The first session of the 2023 MotoGP™ season was underway and the riders took to the circuit for the first time at the Grande Prémio TISSOT de Portugal. It was sea of red in Friday's P1 session as Ducati stamped their authority once again, but this time with the Spaniard Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) topping the timesheets ahead of Joan Mir (Repsol Honda) and Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team).
Light rain in the opening stages of the session saw the majority of the grid watch the opening laps of P1 from the pitlane. With about half an hour of the session to go the rain cleared and the riders began to head to the track.
There was a flurry of fast laps in the closing stages of the session which decided the order. An incredible lap came from Alex Marquez to secure the top spot, whilst the two Repsol Honda riders Marc Marquez and Joan Mir circulated together running a solid pace, with Joan Mir really getting to grips with the Honda machine to bag P2 in Practice 1. The two Mooney VR46 Racing Team riders Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi also pushed hard to take 3rd and 4th respectively.
Good work from the @HRC_MotoGP duo! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) March 24, 2023
New signing @JoanMirOfficial breaks into the top 3! ????#PortugueseGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/eKPWoqdDky
The top Aprilia was Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) in 6th spot ahead of Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) who led the session up until the closing stages. The title favourites Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) had a relatively quiet session and finished P1 locked together in 8th and 9th respectively. Practice 2 for MotoGP™ commences at 15:00 local time (GMT) so make sure not to miss any of the action on motogp.com!
Top 10:
1. Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) – 1:38.782
2. Franceso Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.045
3. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.140
4. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.236
5. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.286
6. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.398
7. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.424
8. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.499
9. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.693
10. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.755