Malaysia is on the verge of its first ever MotoGP rider after confirmation that Hafizh Syahrin will test for the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team.

Syahrin is to ride during the official three-day outing at Buriram, Thailand, after which Tech3 and its partners will 'evaluate the performance of the new arrival in order to decide a possible permanent ride concerning the 2018 season'.

Tech3 needs a new rider after Jonas Folger stepped down on the eve of pre-season testing, saying that - contrary previous indications - he had not recovered sufficiently from last year's fatigue problems.

Syahrin is now clearly in pole position for the highly-competitive satellite M1 ride, after four full seasons and three podiums in the Moto2 category.

The popular Malaysian, 23, was due to race for the Sepang Circuit in the intermediate class this season, but was replaced by countryman Zulfahmi Khairuddin on Saturday, clearing the way for a Tech 3 move.

“First of all, I want to thank Herve Poncharal for giving me this opportunity and of course the entire Monster Yamaha Tech3 team," Syahrin said.

"I’ll try to do my very best during these three days in Thailand. For me, it’s a dream coming true to be able to ride a MotoGP machine. I have to admit, that I’m overly excited to get this chance. I hope I can be fast from the word go to show everybody what I’m capable of. In addition, I want to thank Razlan [Sepang CEO] and all the people, who support me and made this possible.

"I’m incredibly happy and I’m looking forward to be in Buriram, because it will be the very first time ever I can ride a MotoGP bike.

"I know that I have to learn a lot abroad the Yamaha YZR-M1 and I’m eager to try to understand how the team works as I know that they are very experienced, so I want to make the most of their input. During this winter, I trained a lot, yet I hope this hard work pays off and I can’t wait to get this test started.”

It looks like only a disaster in Buriram can prevent Syahrin from being confirmed as a 2018 Tech3 MotoGP rider.

“I’m really happy and honored to have the possibility to have Hafizh Syahrin with us for the test in Buriram," said team manager Herve Poncharal.

"As everybody knows, since Jonas Folger decided that he couldn’t race in 2018, we’ve been looking for who could be the right replacement rider. Following the Sepang test, we had many meetings and it has been decided that Hafizh Syahrin would be a very good choice for the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team.

"Right now, it is only three days, but I am more than convinced that Hafizh is going to show us what he can do.

"He is young, only 23 years old, has already done some podiums in the Moto2 class, which is not easy. He ended inside the top 10 in the final ranking of Moto2 in 2017, which is a huge achievement, because I know how tough this category is.

"As I always said, to have a young rider is much more meaningful for the team than having an already established rider.

"Let’s do the test, I’m already full of excitement and optimism and really soon after Buriram we will take a final decision. Yet, I would like to thank Razlan Razali from Sepang International Circuit, who is the team manager of Hafizh Syahrin.”

The Buriram test, also MotoGP's first laps in Thailand, will take place from February 16-18.

There will then be just one more pre-season outing, in Qatar, before racing begins at the same Losail circuit on March 18.

Yonny Hernandez replaced Folger during the first pre-season test, at Sepang.