MotoGP last visited the Algarve International Circuit near Portimao in November for the second of two races at the venue in 2021, but picking up where the riders left off was impossible as rain lashed the track ahead of FP1.
With conditions set to be similarly damp throughout the weekend, the circuit was busy from the get-go when the 45-minute session was given the green light.
Marc Marquez set the early pace with a 1m57.025s, though this would quickly be whittled down as the field grew more confident in the conditions.
After 15 minutes of running, Ducati’s Jack Miller had taken over at the top of the standings with a 1m51.437s, having taken over from his team-mate and November’s Algarve GP winner Francesco Bagnaia.
Just seconds after Miller had gone top, the conditions had claimed its first victim in LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami.
The Japanese rider suffered an odd crash exiting the fast Craig Jones corner at Turn 9, with both Nakagami and his stricken Honda sliding up the hill to Turn 10.
He was unharmed in the crash and made it back out on his second RC213V, though the incident briefly left some debris on the way into Turn 10 – though only required a yellow flag to clear, rather than a session stoppage.
A couple of minutes after Nakagami’s crash, his factory Honda counterpart Marc Marquez returned to the top of the order with a 1m51.219s.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
On his cooldown lap back into pitlane following that effort, the six-time world champion almost joined the crash list when he ran onto the wet grass at Turn 13 unaware as he looked behind him to check for oncoming traffic.
Marquez’s benchmark would stand for around another 10 minutes, when VR46 Ducati rider Marco Bezzecchi went top with a 1m51.136s.
With eight minutes remaining, the wet conditions claimed its next victim as Miller slid off his factory Ducati at the Turn 8 right-hander.
The incident proved minor, however, and…
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