MotoGP Germany: McPhee ‘taking the positives’ after comeback fight

John McPhee’s hopes of a strong Sachsenring result on his Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max Moto3 were over before they began on Sunday after a first corner collision.

The Scotsman was in the box from his 13th place on the grid but a mid-pack move by Carlos Tatay on the PruestelGP caught both him and Sic58’s Riccardo Rossi out at turn one, sending the Italian skittling to the ground and McPhee running through the gravel but lucky to stay upright.

While he was able to rejoin the action, the 27-year-old was firmly at the back of the pack and facing a mammoth 20 seconds to overhaul before he could even attempt to regain positions.

Fighting to the flag, McPhee crossed the line 19th with the points positions just out of reach after a determined 27-laps.

“It was a real shame for the race to be collected in the first corner,” a frustrated McPhee said from Germany. “Luckily I managed to avoid crashing, but I was taken to the gravel.

“When rejoining I was like more than 20 seconds from the guys in front, so it was a long race but I am happy with myself because I pushed every single lap to try and remain consistent and fast and get a better understanding of the track.

“It is true that we did not have the easiest weekend trying to find a great feel, but with the impact the rear tyre was hit, this did not make things easy.

“I think we can take the positives - we were very consistent through the race and we also managed to work with the used tyres really well. My laps even at the end were more or less like in the beginning, so consistency is there! We just need to improve in a few small areas so we can get the results we are working towards.”