HONDA rider Luca Marini recorded the fastest time during the first practice session for the Indonesia MotoGP on Friday.
Italian rider Marini set a best lap of 1 minute 30.809 seconds in warm conditions at the Mandalika circuit.
KTM’s Pedro Acosta finished second fastest, just 0.136 seconds behind Marini’s leading time.
Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi secured third position, trailing Marini by 0.237 seconds.
Recently crowned champion Marc Marquez placed fifth in the session, 0.462 seconds off the pace.
Marquez claimed his first MotoGP title since 2019 just last week at the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi.
His seventh championship victory marks a remarkable comeback from serious injury struggles.
The Spanish rider has dominated this season with 11 grand prix wins and 541 championship points.
Marquez’s current points total already represents a single-season record for MotoGP.
The second practice session begins at 3:00 pm local time, determining which riders advance directly to Saturday’s qualifying.
Only the top ten riders from second practice will progress straight to the second qualifying round.
Qualifying results will set the grid for both Saturday’s sprint race and Sunday’s main grand prix.
Riders can earn a maximum of 37 championship points across the weekend’s events.
Marini currently sits twelfth in the championship standings ahead of the Indonesian race weekend.
Acosta holds sixth position in the overall championship battle.
Bezzecchi maintains fourth place in the championship as the season approaches its conclusion. – AFP