Thailand's debut on the MotoGP calendar this season means Malaysia n🅰o longer holds the only motorcycle grand prix in South East Asia.

On the other hand, Malaysia now ha🐟s its first ever MotoGP rider in the form of Hafizh Syahrin, who scored points on his race debut for🅠 Monster Yamaha Tech3 in Qatar.

Dato' Razlan Razali, CEO of the Sepang International Circuit, is confident that the hom🎃e-grown boost from 'Syahrin mania' will compensate for the impact of Thailand's arrival.

"I'm not denying the fact that it will take some fans away, especially because 2019 is the first time for a MotoGP in Thailand," Razali told mahbx.com.

"But what's important for us is that the crowd at Sepang is 80-85% local and, of course,𒁃 this year we will have Hafizh in MotoGP.

"So the locals can come to watch our guys in all three classes for th♌⛎e very first time."

A record 166,486𝓰 fans attended last year's Malaysian MotoGP, including a sell-out 97,457 on race day.

Razali predicts similar success for Thai🐭land's first ever motorcycle grand prix.

"I've been to Buriram once before for the World Superbike and I'll come back again for sure for the MotoGP round in October," said Razali, who flew to Buriram to w🍨atch Sy💟ahrin's first MotoGP laps during testing in February.

"I think it's great to have a new country join the♑ championship, something different, and for Yamaha and Hondaꦅ it's a very big market.

"So I think [Buriram] will have a problem getting the crowds out! Not in. I th📖ink a lot of people will come. The grandstands will not be big enough!"

Rather 𒊎than being in competition with neighbouring Thailand, Razali feels the additi🦋on of Buriram is the right move by championship organiser Dorna Sports.

"At the ꦐend of the day, we have to look at it from the big picture for MotoGP," he said.

"I think MotoGP, Dorna, cannot aff♚ord to be complacent. Th✅ey need to grow. They need to have more and more [non-European] rounds.

"And, toge꧃ther with Hafizh being the first South-East Asian rider, it will just grow the🅠 whole sport."

7 of this year's 19 rounds will take place outside Europe. But while a return to Indonesia has long been pursued, so far without success, the next country due to join the calendar in 2019 will be a long way from ꦅSouth East Asia… Finland.

MotoGP plans to dro🌠p one of next year's overseas pr🍸e-season tests to compensate for the new race, but Razali confirmed Sepang expects to keep its traditional place as the first test of the year:

"I was already given dates for next year, so🐻 we've already blocked the 𓆉dates."

That would m𝐆ean either Qatar or Thailand being dropped as an official pre-season test in 2019💃.

Buriram is the obvious choice given its inclusion this year was to prepare for Octob�🐻�er's inaugural race and that the Qatar test is held just two weeks before the opening grand prix at the same venue, saving on freight costs.