John McPhee found himself taking his third Moto3 podium of the year today, despite crossing the line sixth. A frantic race ended with a bunch battle, where three riders ran wide and received post-race penalties. This promoted McPhee up into third and increased the amount of valuable championship points received.

McPhee didn’t make the best of starts when the lights went out, but he recovered well to hold position in third at the end of the first lap. The opening laps saw the Scot put the hammer down to try to escape the back with the other leading riders. It wasn’t long before McPhee could capitalise on the situation and move into the lead.

However, he fell foul of the slipstream effect that the Austrian circuit produces and found himself back in the middle of the pack. Steadily making his way back towards the front throughout the dramatic race, John found himself boxed in and crossed the line sixth. However, a series of penalties for three other riders saw him moved up to third. This result sees McPhee move up to second in the championship standings.

The Moto3 riders will be back in action in only a few days’ time, as the paddock remains in Austria for the Grand Prix of Styria (21-23 August).

John McPhee - 3rd (+0.447)

Honestly to be gifted a podium is not the nicest way to have one, but we’ll certainly take it. In the race I felt really strong, I was able to pass the other guys with ease and that’s not normal in Moto3! I owe a huge thank you to the team for that, for giving me such a good bike today. One small issue that we had was the straight-line speed, for whatever reason I wasn’t able to pass on the straights. This is something we need to look at for the next race, but for now we can celebrate, enjoy this podium and look forward to racing here again next weekend. Everybody knows that it’s a short season, but everyone is attacking like it’s the final race of the season! There’s no time to rest now, so tomorrow we will start working towards next Sunday’s race.