Showing strength aboard his Petronas Sprinta during the opening day of the French GP, John McPhee mastered Le Mans’ changing conditions, and avoided the chaos around him, to end Friday’s Moto3 practice sessions in a healthy third position in the overall times.

Proving consistent in the morning’s wet conditions, the Scot maintained a top-five position throughout the second half of the 40-minute session before moving himself to the top of the timesheets, with a 1’55.217 on his 15th lap of 19.

The afternoon saw him work closely together with teammate Khairul Idham Pawi in the drying FP2 session as he set about repeatedly improving his pace.

His final effort, a 1’45.345, was enough to secure third in the final session with the afternoon times setting the benchmark for provisional qualifications to Saturday’s Q2.

“It’s been a strange day and the conditions have been difficult, but I felt good in all conditions today,” said McPhee.

“I stayed out on track for all of FP1, found a really good rhythm and managed to top the session, which was really nice. It also means we’ve been able to gather a lot of wet weather data.

“We went out in FP2 quite early with the slick tyre and stayed out all session again. At the end I had a little bit left still, but happy to finish within the top three on day one.

“With the cold temperatures, even with no rain, the track only generates a narrow dry line, which could make it tricky to pass in the race. It makes it interesting and keeps you on your toes, definitely looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”