MARQUEZ ON MARCH IN RAIN

MARC MARQUEZ led a Repsol Honda one-two as the MotoGP circus landed in Portugal to start the European leg of the season.

As rain lashed the Algarve International Circuit for yesterday’s opening session, Spain’s Marquez (above) banked the best time of the day with a 1min 50.666sec lap.

And as the weather worsened into the afternoon, team-mate and countryman Pol Espargaro clocked a lap just 0.041sec shy of Marquez’s morning run to lock out the top two spots ahead of Suzuki’s Joan Mir.

With more rain expected today ahead of a dry race day tomorrow, Marquez warned things could get tricky if conditions change.

“It’s difficult because we don’t know. It looks like we can expect a wet day but then if it is dry on Sunday, it’s going to be difficult to choose the correct setup,” he said.

“In these conditions you can’t take a lot of information but it’s better to be in the top position.”