McPhee reflects on Moto3 GP podiumposted in OTHER27 | 03 | 2017
SCOT JOHN McPHEE today reflected on his brilliant start to the 2017 Moto3 GP season after he powered his new British Talent Team Honda to second in the opening race in Qatar. (Related: John McPhee bags podium in Moto3 GP opener)
“We’ve had a long winter break and I’ve been given such a big opportunity by Dorna,” the 23-year-old from Oban, who missed out on victory by just 0.135-seconds behind Spaniard Joan Mir, said today. The top eight were covered by 0.878s.
“I’m determined to make the most of it. I’ve worked seriously hard to recover all my strength, especially after the season-ending crash in Australia.
“Coming here this weekend, I was feeling confident and knew we could do a good job. Through the practice sessions we weren’t quite there, but we were trying to work on race pace. Finally it’s paid off, so a massive thanks to everyone in the team and Honda.
“The plan was to try and get past Joan on the sprint to the line out of the final corner. The bike’s been so fast all weekend; I definitely didn’t want to lead into the final lap.
“I wanted to save the tyres throughout the race, and I tried a couple of times in the race just to see where I could pass the other guys.
“I knew I could pass him if I came out of the final turn in the correct position, but three corners from the end I messed up and made a little mistake, ran a little bit wide and allowed the gap to open just that little bit too far. But I’m delighted to settle for second in the first race of the season.”
McPhee — who became the first Scot for 53 years to win a two-wheel grand prix when he won in Czechoslovakia last year — had started the race from 12th place, on the fourth row of the grid, and slid back to 14th on the opening lap.
But as the race progressed, the Scot battled his way through the field, setting the fastest lap of the race as he eased himself into the lead after six of the 18 laps.
But such was the frantic pace at the front of the field that McPhee slid back in the slipstreaming on the long start-finish straight, and opted to launch his attack o the final lap.
Frustratingly, as he explained, he made a small error three corners from home, running wide on the exit of the fast right-hander and getting “bit of a wiggle’ at the rear of this bike. The ‘wiggle’ cost him a vital split second.
“Im not disappointed: actually, far from it,” McPhee stated. “This is a fantastic start to the season, and great for both the new team and Honda. Now we head to the next round in Argentina next month with new confidence and even more determination.”
Related: Vettel and Ferrari win opening F1 GP of 2017
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Jim McGill