John McPhee finishes in tenth place at Malaysian Grand Prix
CONNEL’S John McPhee - still suffering from the after effects of his heavy Saturday free practice crash - finished the hot and sultry Malaysian Grand Prix Moto3 race at Sepang in tenth place.
The Saxoprint-RTG rider, who started 12th, was in the mix with the front runners, riding as high as eighth, until lap six when Karel Hanika high-sided directly in front of him.
With nowhere to go, the Scot ended up clipping the Czech’s bike, damaging his own in the process.
Next time around he was down in tenth, four seconds in arrears of race leader Romano Fenati, with team-mate Alexis Masbou closing in behind.
With seven laps to go, the gap between the pair was down from 1.3 seconds to just three-tenths of a second as McPhee put up a futile fight to hang on ahead. Masbou swept past easily to set off in pursuit of erstwhile title challenger Enea Bastianini in ninth, while McPhee struggled to keep up in 11th.
That became tenth with three laps to go when sixth-placed Francesco Bagnaia crashed handing the pair a place apiece. The RSF-backed rider eventually finished three seconds in arrears of ninth-placed Masbou.
John said: ‘I knew the moment I hit Karel’s bike that I had a problem. It was a fair old thud, after which it felt like the front tyre had lost some pressure. There was a fair bit of judder from the front as well.
‘Not unexpectedly, the faster I went the worse it got.
‘I rode my hardest though with what I had but struggled to get back to the pace I started the race with. So, while tenth was okay under the circumstances, I can’t help but feel pretty disappointed because, but for the collision, I honestly believe I’d have got a much better result.’
Red Bull Ajo’s title challenger Miguel Oliveira took the win - his fifth of the season - with a last corner move on team-mate Brad Binder while long-time points-leader Danny Kent finished seventh.
The Leopard Racing rider lost out on the chance to clinch the title for the third year in a row after running wide while challenging Niccolo Antonelli for fifth at the final turn.
The place would have made him the first British world champion since 1977 when Barry Sheene claimed his second 500cc crown.
Oliveira’s win - ahead of Binder and Jorge Navarro - takes the championship battle down to the wire at the season’s finale in Valencia in a fortnight’s time.
Kent retains his lead with 253 points, 24 clear of the Portuguese with a maximum of 25 to be fought for in Spain.
The maths mean that even if Oliveira wins the final race, Kent can still claim the title if he scores two points or more. If Oliveira is to snatch the championship from his rival’s grasp, he must win and hope Kent finishes 15th or lower.
McPhee retains 11th place in the standings with the chance to break into the top 10 at the final round.