McPhee lands first Moto3 win for Malaysian outfit in Le Mans

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Moto3 outfit Petronas Sprinta Racing team tasted their first victory when rider John McPhee (pic) of Britain won the French Motorcycle Grand Prix.

The 24-year-old Scot finished the crash-riddled race at the Le Mans Circuit in 37:48.689, which saw only 17 out of the 29 starters finishing the race on Sunday.

Italian Lorenzo Dalla Porta of Leopard Racing finished second followed by Spaniard Aron Cadet of Sterilgarda Max Racing.

McPhee’s teammate Ayumu Sasaki finished 14th.

After failing to secure top 10 finishes in the first four races of the season, it was a massive performance from McPhee to claim his career’s second Moto3 win, after tasting his first victory at the Czech Republic in 2016.

“I can’t explain, I feel so emotional . It has been a long time coming after I struggled this season,” said McPhee.

“Looking back at the first four races, it was hard to talk before we get the results because it would have sounded like I was making excuses.

“So I kept quiet and tried to keep my head down. I kept myself knowing that the speed was there every weekend, we topped one session, it showed the pace was there, having a fantastic team around me, so I finally got one good race today,” he said.

With the win, McPhee moved up to ninth place in the World Championship standings with 34 points after five races.

In the Moto2, Italian Mattia Pasini, who replaced injured Khairul Idham Pawi for Petronas Sprinta Racing, crashed out in the second lap after he was unable to avoid a collision with compatriot Lorenzo Baldassarri.

In the MotoGP, both Petronas Yamaha SRT riders – Italian Franco Morbidelli and Frenchman Fabio Quartararo – secured top 10 positions.

Morbidelli finished seventh, 7.187s behind winner Marc Marquez (41:53.647) of Repsol Honda while Quartararo finished eighth.

Ducati’s Italian riders, Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci finished second and third respectively.

Meanwhile, the country’s first rider to compete in the premier class (MotoGP), Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah, collected his first two points of the season after finishing in 14th spot, 35.481s behind reigning world champion Marquez.