A points scoring Moto3 finish on his return from injury saw Sterilgarda’s John McPhee leave Le Mans satisfied on Sunday.

A dramatic race day brought rain, red flags and multi rider crashes as the lightweight action fired up for the French GP.

McPhee’s first race back after five away - while he recovered from four fractured vertebrae - concluded with a 12th place finish and four championship points after a strong battle in the mid-pack throughout the 22-lap contest, having started 17th on the grid.

“Today was a really successful day,” McPhee affirmed after the flag after a brief foray in the top ten. “Of course, as a rider not always you can be happy with P12, but I think today we can be happy because we were less than three seconds from the victory, inside this one group, with a really nice rhythm.

“The bike was working really well. Honestly speaking the biggest thing that held me back was my physical condition. I felt good for the first nine or ten laps, but in the last five laps I struggled a lot to have the correct movements on the bike.

“For this reason I think that to come away with points on the boards after such a long time away from the bike was a good day So a big thank you to the team. I look forward to the next two races in Mugello and Barcelona.”