Points and progress for McPhee in Catalan GP
CONNEL’S John McPhee had a mountain to climb after a tough qualifying session for the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, but McPhee was confident about his race pace and was proved right. Although it wasn’t the full fairytale from outside the points to podium, John put in an impressive ride to finish the race in 12th place.
McPhee made light work of the first lap to move up into 12th – setting the scene for a battle to the finish – and was pushing to catch the front group before finding himself in a fight with those around him. Unable to break clear and then deciding to keep it on the road and take the points, John crossed the line only five seconds off the victory.
Now the British Talent Team rider can have a brief breather and regroup for the next backto-back stint in two weeks as the TT Circuit Assen prefaces a trip to the Sachsenring in Germany.
John said: ‘It was a good start and good first few laps. I did everything I needed to but then I got into a fight with a couple of other riders.
‘I couldn’t get the laptime I needed to stay with the front group, but as soon as I got put off line or made a mistake, I didn’t have the pace to push past my limit to get back on the group.
‘Normally you ride at 100 per cent but if you need 105 per cent you can chance your luck for a couple of laps, but I was riding the whole race chancing my luck and didn’t have anything else in the bag.
‘We made a small change on the bike from warm up to the race to help corner entry, and it was the correct decision but we almost went too much.
‘ We have a clear direction now and it was nice to find it although it was a bit late in the weekend. With three laps left I decided I had to take the points that were available.’