Alex Marquez started MotoGP's Portuguese Grand Prix weekend on top, but the main intrigue of first Portimao practice was the impressive way Nicolo Bulega's weekend on Marc Marquez's Ducati began.
World Superbike Championship runner-up Bulega - who'll have an official MotoGP test role with Ducati in 2026 with a focus on the Pirelli tyre switch - was 14th quickest, within 0.928 seconds of Gresini rider Marquez's benchmark and 0.233s and three places up on works team-mate Pecco Bagnaia, as the double champion had another muted start to a weekend.
Bulega was following Gresini pair Marquez and Fermin Aldeguer at the end of the session, but his pace and poise on the bike considering his lack of MotoGP mileage - with only a rain-affected Jerez test to prepare - was still eye-catching.
Marquez's 1m39.145s lap kept him on top to the end despite him not taking fresh tyres for the end of the session. Others doing so trimmed his margin only a little, with second-placed Marco Bezzecchi using a new soft front on his Aprilia to eventually get within 0.196s of Marquez.
Pramac Yamaha rider Jack Miller and Tech3 KTM's Maverick Vinales stand-in Pol Espargaro used new tyres late on to go third and fifth, either side of Johann Zarco - who'd been Marquez's closest rival for most of the morning on the LCR Honda.
Espargaro had one of the session's two crashes, with Raul Fernandez having the more dramatic one. Fernandez came unnervingly close to having his Trackhouse Aprilia land on him as it bounced back off the air fence in his Turn 1 fall.
A big one for @25RaulFernandez at Turn 1 😱💥
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) November 7, 2025
Glad to see the Spaniard is relatively OK!#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/u8mHudY9fh
Fernandez was checked in the circuit medical centre and then transported on to a local hospital for a CT scan.
