Reigning Macau Grand Prix Champion Michael Rutter dominated the opening free practice session by more than two seconds, blowing second placed man Jimmy Storrar out of the water with his final lap of the session.
Rutter, who is again on board Robin Croft's SMT Honda, completed 16 laps of the Guia circuit and ended with a best of 1'27.489 - four seconds slower than Stuart Easton's 2010 lap record - with DMR Racing's Storrar on a 2'29.837, the first man under the 2'30s barrier.
Austria's Horst Saiger headed off challenges from John McGuinness and the returning Ian Hutchinson to bag third place on a 2'30.866. McGuinness had been sitting pretty in second on a 2'31.684 but was bumped down to fourth with Hutchinson, who hasn't ridden competitively for two years, just behind with a 2'31.540.
Riders BMW man Martin Jessopp was late to the party with his 2'32.121 which was good enough for sixth place, just ahead of Gary Johnson. The Linconshire man had led early on but was forced to pull off the track with 20 minutes left and take a fire extinguisher to the rear of his Quattro Kawasaki. His best of 2'32.598 was good enough for seventh.
American Jeremy Toye also put in some fast early laps but finished the session in eighth, just head of Stephen Thompson and Didier Grams, the French-sounding German. Pirelli National Superstock 100 regular David Johnson put his PR Kawasaki in 11th with Manxman and TT regular Dan Kneen in 12th.
Mark Miller, Lee Johnston and Davy Morgan rounded out the top ten. Jamie Hamilton finished in 18th, Ian Lougher 20th, Paul Shoesmith 21st, Steve Heneghan 22nd, Ben Wylie 23rd, Dan Cooper 24th, Graham English 30th, Brian McCormack 31st and Dean Harrison 32nd.