John has difficult start to Sepang weekend

PETRONAS Sprinta Racing Moto3’s John McPhee had a day of highs and lows to kick off the action at the 2019 Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix, finishing the day in P24. He showed fast pace despite crashing at the Sepang International Circuit as he fought high temperatures and tricky conditions at the team’s home race.

John had a quiet start to the day, electing to sit out most of FP1 as heavy overnight rain left the track still damp as action got underway. Completing only four laps, he was quick to make up for lost ground in FP2 and spent much of the session inside the top eight, although unfortunately a small tip off as time attacks got underway means he ended the day back in P24.

Moto3 action at the Sepang International Circuit continues tomorrow at 0900 local time, ahead of qualifying at 1235 and Sunday’s 17-lap Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix.

John McPhee
“It’s been a difficult start to the weekend, but to focus on the positives I had two red sectors on the lap that I crashed, which shows that the potential is there to be fast. It was unfortunate and it means that if there’s rain tomorrow I’ll need to go through Q1, but considering the speed is there to be fast we’ll be hoping it’s dry. We started with our base setting from the last race, because a lot has changed since the test back in February, but there are some points on the track that are good to use as a reference.”