MotoGP Portimao: McPhee ‘frustrated but focused on Le Mans’

John McPhee arrived in Portimao ready to race but unfortunately for the Sterilgarda Husqvarna rider, official medics had other ideas.

McPhee only has one Moto3 race under his belt for 2022 after a training accident between Qatar and Indonesia left him with fractured vertebrae. Having spent the past month rehabbing hard in a bit to be back on track at the Algarve International Circuit for the Portuguese GP, the Scot was not only told that would not be the case but that he had four, not two, fractures to fully repair.

“Obviously extremely disappointed not to be out there on track,” McPhee said from pitlane in Portugal on Friday. “I’ve had some intense physio trying to get myself back as soon as I possibly could and honestly from my side I feel not so bad.

“Of course there’s some pain there, there’s a normal pain there but my target was to be back in Texas already,” he continued. “I’ve been working really closely with a couple of doctors in Spain and they kind of said to me, ‘Look, Texas isn’t going to be an option. It’s a little bit too fast but if we do the sensible thing, we’ll wait an extra three weeks, Portimao, 100 per cent you can be there.’ We arrived yesterday. It was so nice to see the team again and get everything prepared for the weekend but unfortunately, the doctors looked at it here and they weren’t happy with what they’ve seen and I totally respect their decision.

“It’s hard as a rider not to be out there, especially when I say I feel not so bad. I’m not 100 per cent, that’s clear, but I feel like I could definitely ride but yeah, I definitely respect their decision.

“It’s a serious injury, obviously. Where it is on the vertebrae it could be bad if I was to have another incident so I’ll take the decision on