John McPhee ‘It’ll be strongest season yet’
Another rider with a crucial year ahead is Scot John McPhee who on paper has the potential to deliver a title-winning performance. Now onboard an HRC-backed Petronas Honda that’s among the best bikes in the paddock, he needs to become a regular race winner.
But thanks to the team being largely British and with top notch support from both their Malaysian backers and the might of Honda, McPhee says he’s adjusting well and knows the potential.
“It’s still fairly early days with the team and I haven’t ridden a Honda in a while, but they’ve done a fantastic job with the 2019 bike. Everything’s working great with the team and we’ve already made our way through all the standard testing stuff and started to explore a lot of new stuff; testing things just for the sake of learning. HRC are giving us great support and bringing us lots of new parts to try.”
After a difficult season in 2018 that saw him struggle to get the most out of the CIP Moto KTM and failing to gel with his inexperienced squad, McPhee was rarely able to emulate the podium successes he enjoyed in 2017.
But while he’s insistent that it’s too early to say exactly what’s possible in 2019, McPhee is going into the season more confident than he’s been in his previous six seasons in the lightweight class.
“The package overall feels really, really good. I was so impressed with everything in testing. Looking back to 12 months ago, it’s like night and day. Even though the KTM last year came really good by mid-season, at the start of the year I was almost scared because I just didn’t feel comfortable on it. But already I am feeling comfortable and strong on the Honda.
“It’s hard to say where we’ll fit in because you never know where everyone else is at during testing, but I feel like personally, the way I’m riding and with the feeling I have with the bike and the team, it could well be my strongest ever season in Moto3.”
‘Overall it feels really, really good’