Alex Marquez once again set the pace as he secured top spot in the second Portugal MotoGP practice session in Portimao.
Marquez had to work for his position at the top after late pressure from Pedro Acosta and Francesco Bagnaia, but set a time of 1:37.974 to complete the day as the fastest rider.
Franco Morbidelli and Luca Marini both crashed early on in the session to disrupt the opening runs of some riders.
Johann Zarco also suffered a technical problem in the first 20 minutes of timed practice, in a difficult start for the recently high-flying Honda effort.
As the red and white rain flags were thrown out, Jack Miller crashed at Turn 5, with several riders deciding to enter the pit lane.
Pedro Acosta was one of the riders who stayed out and improved on his time, but was still unable to touch Marquez’s advantage in the final sector.
However, Acosta’s second lap found enough time to displace Alex Marquez at the top of the timesheets.
Inspired by Acosta’s burst of pace, the field headed back onto the circuit and Marquez immediately restored his advantage at the top – with the Gresini rider’s superiority in the final sector proving the difference between himself and the rest of the field.
Francesco Bagnaia’s late improvement saw him second at the flag, while Pedro Acosta completed the top three.
Marco Bezzecchi also produced a late flourish in fourth, as Joan Mir and Johann Zarco led the Honda charge in fifth and sixth, respectively.
Fabio Di Giannantonio ended the day in seventh ahead of Fermin Aldeguer, with Pol Espargaro continuing to shine on stand-in duties in ninth.
Ai Ogura held onto the final Q2 spot in 10th, narrowly beating out Luca Marini and Franco Morbidelli.
Fabio Quartararo extracted the maximum from his Yamaha but could only manage 13th, ahead of a struggling Binder in 14th.
Raul Fernandez took part in the session despite a rough crash in FP1 and finished 15th ahead of the late-crashing Miller in 16th.
Nicolo Bulega continued to impress in 17th, beating out Alex Rins and Enea Bastianini in the second practice session.
Somkiat Chantra was 20th at the flag ahead of Lorenzo Savadori in 21st. Home favourite Miguel Oliveira completed the standings in 22nd.
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