Nico Terol's dominance of the 2011 125cc World Championship continued as he left his rivals trailing in first practice at Estoril.
After winning both of the opening two races, Terol arrives in Portugal with a 19 point lead over Jonas Folger, with Sandro Cortese one point further back in third.
The Bankia Aspar rider led the way for the majority of the 40 minute session, eventually setting a 1:47.746, giving him a full second in his pocket over Johann Zarco in second.
The Frenchman arrives at Estoril brimming with confidence after claiming his maiden podium finish at Jerez four weeks ago, and that showed on Friday morning as he seemed to be the only man capable of keeping Terol in sight.
The second Aspar Aprilia of Hector Faubel was next up in third while Sandro Cortese, Terol's biggest threat in the first two events, was fourth, 1.211s off the pace.
Efren Vazquez was never too far away from the top of the timesheets and the Spaniard ended up in fifth in the second Avant–AirAsia–Ajo entry.
Jonas Folger had a quiet morning on his way to sixth, just ahead of the AndalucÃa Banca Civica teammates, with Alberto Moncayo outpacing local favourite Miguel Oliveira.
British supporters will have kept a close eye on two men in particular. Danny Kent and Taylor Mackenzie both shone in the wet at Jerez finishing fourth and fifth respectively, and they were line astern in FP1 too, albeit in 17th and 18th.
In fact the honour of top Brit went to Mahindra's Danny Webb. After losing a potential top six finish to an accident last time out, Webb made an encouraging start in Portugal, setting the 15th fastest time.
Harry Stafford completed the British quartet in 26th and will have been pleased to get some dry running as he gets to grips with the 4.182km circuit. Whether he gets any more of that remains to be seen with wet weather forecast for the weekend ahead.
