John McPhee maintained his promising Saturday pace by securing a front row start for Sunday’s Algarve GP on his Petronas SRT.

Missing out on pole position by a fraction, the number 17 was just 0.017s behind Sergio Garcia on his way to second on the grid with a stunning 1’47.291 lap set on used Dunlop rubber.

The Scot had already shown his strength in Saturday morning’s FP3 despite strong winds impacting the opening 40-minute session. Leading the final practice thanks to a 1’47.775, the Honda rider utilised his tyre allocation more than he would have preferred, to ensure his place in the pole shootout.

Having already staked his claim on the top three in his initial qualifying run, McPhee was forced to return to used tyres for his concluding effort. The gamble, however, paid off as he produced his first front row start since Doha’s opening GP of the year.

“We were really strong yesterday with the hard tyre but just struggled with the one-lap pace at the end of the day,” McPhee said of his weekend preparation so far.

“Obviously we’ve corrected this, going fastest in FP3 but we had used two tyres, so I only had one fresh tyre for qualifying. My first run put me on the front row, but I didn’t think it was good enough to maintain that position and I had to go again with the used tyre.

“I’m so happy that I was able to do the lap time I did on those tyres and it’s actually a bit of a surprise. Overall it’s been a solid day and it puts us in a good place for tomorrow. I’ve already decided which tyres we are going to use tomorrow; I’m feeling good with them and really looking forward to the race.”