Petronas Sprinta’s John McPhee was unable to capitalise on his first pole position of the year at Circuit Ricardo Tormo this morning after crashing out of the Gran Premio de Europa on lap five. His championship hopes, however, remain faintly intact after four of the top-six failed to finish in the points. Although the Scotsman initially had good drive from the front row as the lights went out, he found himself sucked into the clutches of the pack heading out of the first corner, dropping to ninth on the opening lap.

Circulating on the edge of the top-10 as the race unfolded, McPhee’s challenge came to an unexpected early end as lap five began, the number 17 unfortunate to crash out on a damp patch at the first corner.

The Petronas rider maintains his sixth position in the riders’ standings ahead of next weekend’s Valencia GP, with the 38-point gap also remaining constant thanks to Albert Arenas’ disqualification due to irresponsible riding and only two of the top-six collecting points.

“I’m gutted to have finished the race early, after starting from pole position,” said McPhee.

“I didn’t make the best of starts but into turn one was more or less okay, however, I didn’t feel that good on the first lap.

“I was trying to attack but felt something strange. It took me too long to find my rhythm in the first few laps and I dropped too many places. Then when I started to attack again I caught a wet patch in turn one and crashed.

“It’s really unfortunate because we missed out on a good opportunity to close the gap in the championship. We will regroup though and focus on the next two races.”