The 25-year-old Italian rider clocked 1min 57.889s on the 47th lap before finishing 54 laps, ahead of reigning champion, Francesco Bagnaia from Ducati Lenovo Team who recorded 1min 57.969s on his penultimate lap of the 43 laps completed.

Maverick Vinales of Aprilia Racing clocked the third fastest time of 1min 58.036s on his 50th lap before completing 56 laps.

Speaking after the test, Marini was thoroughly satisfied and described his performance in Sepang as incredible.

“What a great way to start the season. It was a fantastic test. I was really happy as everything that we tried today turned out well especially the traction and brake part,” he told reporters.

Meanwhile, Bagnaia or fondly known as ‘Pecco’ said the enormous change that his team made on the electronic system of his bike at the eleventh hour worked wonders as it helped him to finish second in the session.

“After the lunch session I was struggling a lot, it was difficult for me to go full throttle as the bike moved and slid a lot. However, I was very happy and proud as my team managed to make an enormous change in the electronic system of the bike,” he said.

All riders and teams will head to the two-day test at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimao, Portugal on March 11 and 12, with the season opener set to take place in the same circuit, two weeks later (March 24-26).