Spaniard Marquez, who won the Malaysian MotoGP last year, blitzed through the Sepang circuit early in the morning session to secure a lap time of 1 min 56.402 sec on his third lap outing.

Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi was a fraction off Marquez, turning in 1 min 56.526 sec to be just ahead of his Italian compatriot Fabio Di Giannantonio, who clocked 1 min 56.786 sec.

Ducati team-mates Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia were the other two riders who dipped under the 1 min 57 mark, despite the Spanish reigning world champion crashing in the morning session.

Marc Marquez, who missed the final four races of last season after suffering a collarbone injury at Indonesia’s Mandalika circuit, explained his crash.

“When you put (on) a new aero package, you need to change the bike’s balance. I was trying a different aero package when I crashed on Turn 1,” he said

“With small modifications, the bike balance changed a lot. Lucky it was in the middle of the corner and very slow,” he added.

His younger brother Alex Marquez, was pleased with the outcome from his Ducati on a largely bright and clear day in Sepang.

“We tried to improve the setup that was missing on the first and second day, and to strike the potential from the bike.”

“I feel we are better than last year, more competitive. Quite happy about the test,” he said.

The MotoGP competitors will next head to Buriram, Thailand, for the second pre-season test in a fortnight, ahead of the 2026 March curtain raiser at the Thailand GP.