In warm conditions at the Mandalika track on the resort island of Lombok, Italian rider Marini laid down a fastest lap of 1 minute 30.809 seconds.

That was 0.136 seconds faster than Acosta and 0.237 seconds ahead of Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi, who finished second behind Marc Marquez at the San Marino Grand Prix last month.

Marini is 12th in the overall MotoGP standings, with Acosta in sixth and Bezzecchi in fourth going into the race weekend.

Championship winner Marquez finished 0.462 seconds behind Marini, a week after clinching his first MotoGP title since 2019 at Motegi.

His seventh title win capped a remarkable comeback from an injury nightmare, with an impeccable season of 11 grand prix wins leaving him far ahead of his brother Alex in second place.

His 541 championship points are already a single-season record for a MotoGP rider.

The second practice session, from which the top 10 riders go straight into Saturday’s second round of qualifying, gets underway at 3.00pm (0700 GMT).

Qualifying shapes the grid for both the sprint race on Saturday and the main event GP on Sunday afternoon, with a maximum of 37 points available.