Sepang expects Morbidelli, Quartararo at 8 Hours

The Suzuka 8 Hours, taking place this weekend, might not feature any full-time MotoGP riders, but the new end-of-year Sepang 8 Hours could see at least two premier-class stars on the grid.

Sepang boss Razlan Razali is pushing for his Petronas Yamaha riders Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo to enter the circuit's inaugural EWC event on December 14.

"The ideal scenario from Sepang Circuit is to put our existing [MotoGP] riders in the 8 Hours. So we are talking to their respective managers," Razali told Crash.net. "Both riders are free in December. It’s the off-season, so I think it’s good to maintain their fitness. They’d be on a Yamaha...

"I've already made my expectation clear that, 'look this is our first EWC and you guys are [our] MotoGP riders'. We have not decided who the third rider is yet - but if we’re in it, we’re in it to win."

With Sepang also running a Moto2 entry - featuring Khairul Idham Pawi, Jonas Folger and Mattia Pasini so far this season - plus a Moto3 line-up of race winner John McPhee and rising star Ayumu Sasaki, Razali has the potential to assemble quite an EWC 'dream team'.

"Yeah, exactly! We’ll see…"

Rookie star Quartararo is currently eighth in the world championship with three poles and two podiums. Morbidelli is eleventh overall, with two front-row starts and a best finish of fifth. Both are contracted to the Sepang team until the end of 2020.

The last time two satellite Yamaha riders took part as team-mates in an EWC race was the 2015 Suzuka 8 Hours, when Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith helped the factory claim its first Suzuka win since 1996.

Meanwhile, Hafizh Syahrin - who made history as Malaysia's first MotoGP rider, but now looks set to drop down to Moto2 next season - would also be free in December…