PETRONAS SRPINTA RACING
Now one of Moto3™ ’ s elder statesmen at the grand old age of 27 , it ’ s easy to forget John McPhee made an inauspicious GP debut as a fresh-faced 16-year old at Valencia back in 2010 . Then , the diminutive Scot was competing to break through the ranks and performances in the Spanish CEV championship in 2011 coupled with three impressive world championship wildcards led to a call up to replace the injured Alexis Masbou for eight races in 2012 .
Having grown up in Oban , Scotland , the young McPhee was inspired by the awesome feats of countryman Steve Hislop , a star in the British Championships and Isle of Man TT in the late eighties , early 90s and early 2000s . “ One guy who I really think was special , not necessarily every single time he went on the bike , but when things were right for him , when he had a bike that was working for him and he was confident , he actually went faster than Valentino Rossi at Donington was Steve Hislop . When I was growing up , he was my hero ,” McPhee said .
In the Moto3™ series , the diminutive Scot soon showed himself capable of scoring grand prix points , taking a best result of 15th in Brno , convincing Racing Team Germany to take him on for a full season in 2013 . It wasn ’ t always easy , with McPhee always learning as he went along . “ When you come to the world championship , it ’ s a whole new ballgame . It ’ s hard to make the right decision straight off , especially with it being such a cutthroat class . To put it down to one thing , it ’ s hard to say . I think there ’ s been a lot of rockiness along the years . There have been a lot of things that have been out of my hands . A lot of decisions have been made that I wouldn ’ t have necessarily liked to make , but I kind of didn ’ t have a say in the matter .”
By the end of the following year , he was had got a grip on things , regularly fighting in the top twelve . John would have to wait another year for his first podium ( Indianapolis , 2015 ) and two for his first win , that brilliant wet weather ride at Brno in 2016 , on the same day when Cal Crutchlow scored his maiden MotoGP™ triumph .
From 2017 McPhee has switched from Honda machinery in the British Talent Team to KTM and then back again . From 2019 , John was placed in the Petronas Sprinta Racing Honda team and had a breakthrough ride at Le Mans that year , taking the structures first win in grand prix . The Scot still rates that outing as a career highlight . “ Of course , your first win is always special . It ’ s always an extremely special moment ,” he said . “ But having that first win here with Petronas in the dry and it was a great race . To get that win , it ’ s definitely the most special moment .”
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