Scotland's John McPhee got his 2020 Moto3 title challenge off to an almost perfect start, bagging second place behind Albert Arenas to take 20 points in Qatar today.
The Petronas Sprinta rider was right in the mix for the whole race and broke away with Arenas on the last lap but wasn't able to beat the Aspar rider to the line.
"It’s a fantastic way to start and I’m so happy for the team and for everyone that’s been working hard around me to make this possible," said McPhee.
"We’ve worked all off-season for this; I’ve worked with my crew and really focused on being alone on track to work on the race pace.
To then put all the practice into the performance today was a really nice feeling. The first seven or eight laps caught me a little unawares as I didn’t expect some of the guys to be so strong.
"I knew that my main strength was at the end of the race on the used tyre so I was keeping that in mind trying to stay with the top seven.
"I almost put the perfect plan together. I thought about making a lunge on the last corner of the last lap but I knew from watching races from the last few years that only once has someone been able to lead from the last corner across the line so I thought it was a good plan to be second out of the last corner. It didn’t pay off but I’m really happy to be on the podium."
