A wet start to the season’s triple-headed finale did not deter John McPhee from opening his European GP campaign with a solid 10th place in Friday practice at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, having assessed his Petronas Sprinta machine under both wet and drying conditions.

Heading straight out to fully understand the morning’s wet track, McPhee set a series of laps that kept him firmly at the sharp end of the 40 minute session. Having run as high as the top-three, the Scot’s fastest lap of 1’51.170 placed him seventh at the end of FP1.

A break in the rain during lunch allowed a dry line to form as FP2 began, helping McPhee to go fastest on his fourth lap of the afternoon session, returning to the top consistently as he battled Darryn Binder for position throughout the opening 10 minutes. As the track evolved so did the times, with slick tyres coming into play for the closing stages, the Scot’s best effort - a 1’46.760 - placing him 10th overall and in contention for Q2 promotion.

“It’s been an interesting day with the weather. It was actually quite nice to have some wet practice because this year we haven’t really had any wet conditions.

“I felt good in the wet and I didn’t take too many risks in FP1 or FP2, although I tried to set a time that would see us directly through to Q2 in case it is wet again tomorrow morning.

“Overall it’s been a positive day; we do have room for improvement but I feel good with the bike. I think we’ll have some tough conditions again tomorrow, so we’ll have to push to the limits of the track.

“Sunday looks like it could be good weather, so it will be important to qualify well and give ourselves the best opportunity to do well.”