Syahrin: I'm in love with this bike!

There were more than a few eyebrows raised when it became clear that Hafizh Syahrin had moved into pole position for the vacant Monster Yamaha Tech3 ride.

But by the end of a debut test in Thailand, the 23-year-old had silenced his doubters.

Making history as the first Malaysian in MotoGP, Syahrin finished 21st out of the 24 riders, just 1.756s from fastest man Dani Pedrosa (Honda).

Syahrin's only 'blip' came when he was caught out by a lack of experience with the Michelin tyres and fell on his first lap after lunch on day two. A similar fate befell former Moto2 rival and fellow rookie Franco Morbidelli.

But the positives vastly outweighed that negative - and who would have believed Syahrin's name would be one place above triple MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo, under any circumstances, on the final day?

While Syahrin is still to be officially confirmed as keeping the seat for 2018, it would now be a massive shock if he is not on the satellite M1 for the opening round in Qatar.

"Very happy, thank you to Tech 3 and Yamaha for believing in me and taking me to the test to give me this opportunity," smiled Syahrin. "I'm very happy with the test and I gave my best to the team.

"I'm very proud to be part of MotoGP and riding with legends like Márquez, Rossi, Lorenzo. Because all the riders that go to MotoGP are the best. For me, I'm just a beginner, I tried to learn what I need to learn, take a lot of experience.

"It's not easy to adapt to the MotoGP riding style, but I tried to learn and tried to change. You need to pick up the bike quickly out of the corners and open the gas early. At the end, I have a good feeling with the bike."

Syahrin - the only 2018 rookie without a grand prix victory to his name - also chose to do the learning by himself, out on track.

"Actually this is the best way for me. On the last day I tried to follow some other riders. It was good to see, but when I improved it was always from going alone.

"I kept improving every session, little by little, and in the last exit I set a good lap time.

"Before coming here I thought maybe I can be three seconds from the top, so in the end [1.756s] is a surprise. For me it's really good, because I see some riders who go to MotoGP and are always two or three seconds behind.

"But I don't know, maybe it's the track. For me it's not an easy or difficult track, it's intermediate. But I can manage below two seconds to the top, so I'm really happy and I have a good connection with the bike."

With Tech3 packing up at lunchtime on the final day, Syahrin may well have gone faster in the cooler late-afternoon conditions, when Pedrosa set his best time to final topple Syahrin's team-mate Johann Zarco.

And the big question, will Syahrin be back on the bike for the final test in Qatar and 2018 season?

"I don't know. I hope I can arrive in Qatar. Because I'm already in love with the bike," Syahrin replied.

"Also the team work like a family. This is important for me, because everybody needs to have a good relationship, get good support, to have a good result.

"But we will see. For the moment, I just came here for the test, and I hope that I can arrive in Qatar."

Team boss Herve Poncharal was certainly pleased:

"I know everyone is expecting a decision regarding Hafizh Syahrin. All I can say right now is, that he has done a fantastic job during this test, showing a great motivation, willing to learn and speed on track in a really good atmosphere with the team.

"Very soon we will take our decision, as we have to share all details of organisation with all our partners."

The Qatar test takes place from March 1-3.