The final Moto3 race before the summer break will see Petronas Sprinta’s John McPhee start the DutchGP from 11th position after his fastest lap of the Assen TT Circuit was deleted.

Timing his final run in Saturday morning’s FP3 to perfection, and narrowly avoiding the last corner melee that unfolded behind him, McPhee’s final flying lap - a 1’42.226 - placed him fourth in the final practice and eighth overall, easily securing his place in Q2.

The Scot also got his first qualifying run off to a perfect start, briefly holding the top spot on the timing screens with a 1’42.043 effort before returning to the pits. His final attack - a 1’41.655 - would have been enough for seventh but the lap was deleted due to track limits in the first sector with the 26-year-old settling for the middle of the fourth row ahead of Sunday’s 22-lap race.

“It was a bit of a tough qualifying session today: McPhee admitted from Assen.

“I did a banker lap at the beginning, which was my fastest lap of the weekend, and then my final lap, which I had made another improvement on, was taken off me. I’m not sure why and we need to understand that, because I think we would have been four or five places higher.

“We have struggled a little with one-lap pace, but we can consistently string a good amount of laps together, which is good going into the race.

“If we can get a good start tomorrow I’m sure we’ll be there in the fight. Let’s see what happens.”