John makes a solid start at Misano

PETRONAS Sprinta Racing got the Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini off to a good start today, with John McPhee claiming seventh in the day’s Moto3 Free Practice.

After riding Jake Dixon’s Moto2 bike last weekend, John used FP1 to help reacclimatise to his regular machinery. The Scot ended the 40-minute session 22nd, after posting a best lap time of 1min 43.723secs. John had a steady start to the afternoon’s FP2 session, opting to set his flying lap late on in the session – 1min 42.777secs. Ending the lap just before the rain started to fall in the final moments of FP2, John ended the day with the seventh fastest time.

John McPhee
7th (1’42.777)

It was a lot more difficult than I thought to go from the Moto2 bike back to the Moto3 one! I’ve been in the Moto3 category for a while now, so I thought I should be able to come back and be quick straightaway, but my feeling on the first few laps surprised me. It wasn’t easy and I don’t think my FP1 position was really representative of where we were at, but in FP2 we were back to normal and I finished seventh. Riding the bigger bike has changed how I ride my Moto3 one; I’m braking later in the corner, preparing the exit and, although it might not be best for a lap time, it should benefit us in the race. We’re ready for all conditions, whether it’s wet, dry or mixed and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.