Luca Marini impressed the MotoGP grid at Mandalika on Saturday after topping the second day of testing at the new Indonesian circuit.

The Mooney VR46 Ducati rider proved he was feeling firmly at home on the new 2022-spec Desmosedici having begun his premier class career on two year old machinery last season, by setting a 1’31.289 best on his 57th of 59 laps around the 4.3km island track.

Two-tenths separated him from an imposing trio trailing him in the times, as Marc Marquez, Maverick Viñales and Fabio Quartararo were covered by less than a tenth in the top four.

“Today was a really good day,” Marini said from the Lombok paddock. “We worked very well from the start of the day. The feeling with the bike improves every lap so we are on a good way. I hope to grow up even more and try to be more competitive also on the pace because today I saw that Quartararo, Marquez they were very strong with used tyres.

“I think that I’m there, close to the other Ducatis so maybe we can work together and try to understand in which area we need to work to improve because this is a new track for everybody. But I’m really satisfied for these results today.

“It’s great to be in front and it’s important to stay also in this top position tomorrow. I don’t know if we will have time to try other time attack because we also need to try some new parts, also in the setting I want to be prepared for Qatar. So we will see tomorrow where I can finish in the classification but the lap time of today was really great.”

Having spent his rookie season on the 2019 Ducati Danilo Petrucci took to victory at Mugello three years ago, Marini is now on equal footing to the factory riders with six Bologna bullets running the GP22 this year.

“Yeah, exactly, it’s not so difficult to achieve these results with everything at the top like all the other riders, because now every rider has an official bike,” he confirmed. “There are 24 fantastic bikes in the track so I think that more or less every bike is on the same level. So the rider needs to do something more, be really at 100 per cent in all areas to be the strongest and will be not easy during the season for everybody.

“It was a tough season last season. So I hope to start well and stay competitive during all the season because I want to achieve great goals and continue to follow my dream.

“That is not something in particular so big, is just details,” he said when comparing the three evolutions of Ducati tested over the winter to his current offering. “Everything is better, the bike, the feeling, the speed in the straight, everything works better. Also you gain more confidence with this and this helps a lot the mind of the rider to stay calm and positive because you have a good package and you can express yourself at 100 per cent. We need to work like this also during the season and stay in this position everywhere.”

While his elder brother may no longer be trackside week in-week out, Valentino Rossi still has a keen interest in both Marini’s progress and the VR46 titled squad he runs with.

“I hope he is watching,” Marini admitted, “because today is a good day to watch!”