It has been a tough year so far for John McPhee, but the Petronas Sprinta Racing rider can finally smile after bagging his first Moto3 podium finish of the season at the Grand Prix of the Americas on Sunday.
It was a complicated race at the Circuit of the Americas which was red flagged twice due to multiple crashes.
In the end, race direction decided to take the final results of the race from the standings of the riders during lap seven, just prior to the first red flag.
McPhee placed third (+0.499s) in the race behind second-placed (+0.385s) Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) while Izan Guevara (Solunion GASGAS Aspar Team) took the win in 15:57.747s.
Petronas Sprinta teammate Darryn Binder was seventh (+1.391s).
McPhee, whose last podium finish came at Misano last year, was delighted with his performance.
"It was a crazy race. Thankfully I didn't see too much of the incidents that happened and I hope the guys are all OK of course," said McPhee who has struggled for form this season.
"I'm really, really happy with the performance today (Sunday), we haven't exactly struggled this weekend but there were areas where we weren't the strongest.
"But come race day I was much stronger than I thought.
"Big thanks to the team
because the bike was working
so well. I could brake so deep
and turn so well and fight
my way through.
"We were fast enough to win the race but we'll take the podium (finish)."
It was a solid weekend overall for the Malaysian-owned team as all their riders finished in the points.
Petronas Sprinta Racing pair Xavi Vierge and Jake Dixon placed eighth and 10th respectively in the Moto2 race while NTS RW Racing GP's Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah settled for 20th.
Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team's Andrea Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi finished 13th and 15th in the premier class race.
