PETRONAS Sprinta Racing
This weekend will see John McPhee and Khairul Idham Pawi in action around Circuit Ricardo Tormo for the first of two back-to-back Moto3 races at the Valencia circuit. The PETRONAS Sprinta Racing duo is ready for the final triple-header of the 2020 season, where McPhee is in contention for the championship title.
The Valencia circuit holds happy memories for McPhee: it was the scene of his world championship debut in the lightweight class in 2010, he has started from the front row twice (2015 – pole & 2018 – third) and was on the podium in 2018 (third). After two solid rides at Aragón, John will be aiming to reduce the 38-point deficit in the championship – where he currently sits in sixth.
A long-lap penalty prevented KIP from making any progress through the field at Aragón last time out, something the Malaysian will be keen to avoid this weekend. KIP will be aiming to further improve his lap times, gather data around Circuit Ricardo Tormo to use over the next two weekends and end the season with three good results aboard his Honda NSF250RW.
Moto3 Free Practice 1 will get underway at 10 am local time (5 pm MYT) on Friday, with Sunday’s 23-lap race due to commence at the usual time of 11 am local time (6 pm MYT.
These next races will be interesting because Valencia is a very different track to Aragón, where we’ve just been for two weeks. I have been very fast at Valencia in the past. So hopefully, we can replicate that again and continue our good form from the latest races. We still have some work to do with regards to the championship, but I’m feeling good and we’ll have to see what happens. I’m also very excited to end this last triple-header, and season, with Portimão as our final round, as it’s a new circuit.
I think these next two races at Valencia could be quite difficult, for everyone and not just us. We’re expecting it to be cold, with maybe some rain, when we arrive. With the first few corners going to the left and then one to the right, it’s going to be very slippery at the beginning of each session. We are going to have to make sure we get our tyres warm before pushing for fast laps. However, it is a circuit that I like and I’m aiming to improve further, do my best and achieve a good result in the final rounds of this year.