Franco Morbidelli may have taken six poles at worldඣ championship level in grand prix, but Th🍸ursday's EWC pole position at the Sepang 8 Hours was a very different experience.

T🎉he quickest rider on track after the pair of conventional qualifying sessions, Morbidelli was then picked to represent the Yamaha Sepang Team in the Top 10 Trial, despite no experience of the one-lap 'Superpole' format, under floodlights.

When rider after rider then failed to beat an early 2m 5.440s by Somkiat Chantra, there were suspicions that late ev♛ening moisture might be forming on the track surface.

But Morbidelli, the last on track, batted such con🍸cerns aside by rocketing 0.793s clear of the Ho♎nda rider for pole position.

"It's always good to qualify on pole, but it's also fun to do it in the way they do here in EWC, with just ♚one lap on an empty track to set your fastest time," said the Italian, who had suffered a minor fall in Qualifying 2.

"The format certainly gets the adrenaline flowing, as you try to squeeze e🐻very little bit of speed from the bike.

"Tomorr🅘ow we will take advantage of the rest day before returnඣing to the track on Saturday.

"In the race we'll try a🍬nd do our job i♌n the best way and try to secure the best result possible.

"This will be my first EWC race, but it's a fun series and I'm enjoying the challenge, so thanks to Yamaha, to the Sepang In🅷ter🌊national Circuit and to the team for giving me this opportunity."

Team-mates Michael van der Mark and🤡 Hafizh Syahrin began the day🌳 by matching Morbidelli's performance by also leading their respective Qualifying 1 track sessions.

WorldSBK and Suzuka 8 Hour ace van d𒐪er Mark then joined Morbidelli in also topping his ✨Qualifying 2 outing, when Syahrin was fourth in the 'yellow' group.

"We've enjoyed a strong start to the race weekend, with Franco posting a fantastic lap in the Top 10 Trial to turn our provisional pole from qualifying into the actual pole position for Saturday's race," ไvan der Mark said.

"Even more important is our constant improvement and the better feeling with our R1 that we all gain with every exit. All three of us have a really good pace, so I'm sure we c♛an fight at front in the first ever 8 Hours of Sepang race on Saturday. I'm looking forward to it!"

Home star Syahrin, who will return to the circuit on Friday to take part in the touring car practice and qualify𝓀ing, added: "I'm very happy that we were able to secure pole position in front of mine and the team's home crowd for the first ever 8 Hours of Sepang race.

"It's sure to be a tough race in hot conditions on Saturdaꦦy🎐 but we believe in our package, which is really strong, so let's see what we can do.

"We need to paཧtient in the rac꧋e, avoid making any mistakes when dealing with traffic on track and make sure our pit stops are as slick as possible. I believe in the team; I have faith in my teammates, and I think we can do a good job in the race."

The inaugural 8 Hours of Sepang race gets underway 🐼at 13.00 local time on Saturday and will finis♛h under floodlights.