Yamaha Maverick Vinales topped the test in which he rode his Yamaha for the first time when he went quickest in Valencia last year, and the Spaniard picked up almost where he left off as he ended the first day of 2017 action in third – behind only the Ducatis of test rider Casey Stoner and 2016 winner at the track Andrea Dovizioso.

Vinales has experience of Sepang on his new machine following a private test late last year alongside teammate Valentino Rossi and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad.

The 2013 Moto3 Champion's quickest effort on Day 1 of 2017 was a 2‘00.128, with work focused on setup and bettering tyre life.

Maverick Vinales was pleased after completing his first day of testing at Sepang with the Yamaha YZR-M1

Vinales said: “We have been working a lot to prepare before the race season starts and honestly I‘m quite surprised."

"The first day is always difficult, but I‘m feeling OK on the bike and physically good, so I‘m happy and I want to go back to working on the bike some more."

"We tried many things today to get a good package and now we focus on comparing many things."

"We‘re doing some difficult work these days before we go out to set a fast lap time, but it‘s really useful for the next few tests.”