Marc Marquez, Portuguese MotoGP, 22 April
Marc Marquez, Portuguese MotoGP, 22 April

LIVE UPDATES: Who will reign supreme in qualifying for the Portimao MotoGP?

Home hero Miguel Oliveira took top spot in an all-important Portimao MotoGP FP3, as was the case during FP4.

Despite fully wet conditions, the Friday times were soon being beaten, allowing Fabio Quartararo to swiftly break into the top ten for direct access to Qualifying 2 and Oliveira setting the best lap of the weekend in the opening 15 minutes.

But there was an early scare for Friday leader Marc Marquez, who suffered his first fall since the diplopia-inducing huge Mandalika accident when he highsided on the exit of Turn 8. The subsequent impact broke the visor on Marquez's helmet. Marquez was able to ride back, then watched most of the session from the garage before returning in the final minutes.

Brother Alex, celebrating his 26th birthday today, fell moments later.

The rain intensified just before the halfway stage adding to the urgency for those outside the top ten such as Aleix Espargaro, Jorge Martin, Francesco Bagnaia, Alex Rins and Enea Bastianini.

Aleix Espargaro defied the downpour to snatch ninth place, pushing Aprilia team-mate Maverick Vinales to eleventh, while Brad Binder became the second rider of the day pitched into a highside, this time at turn 9.

Marco Bezzecchi suffered a similar incident in the closing five minutes, the rookie - who also highsided on Friday - pounding the gravel with his fist in frustration. However the young Italian, watched by team boss Valentino Rossi in the pits, has already secured a Qualifying 2 place courtesy of his Friday time.

The deteriorating conditions meant the likes of Vinales, Martin, Bagnaia, Morbidelli and Rins were unable to threaten the combined top ten and will be taking part in Qualifying 1. 

Despite his early fall, Marquez remained inside the top ten on combined times, not something Bagnaia and Martin could manage. 

With the rain providing treacherous conditions, crashes continued to plague free practice as Bezzecchi suffered his second highside of the weekend, while fellow rookies, Remy Gardner and Darryn Binder also crashed, as did the South African’s brother Brad. 

23 Apr 2022