Petronas Sprinta’s John McPhee finished the Jerez Moto3 test only 0.050s behind pacesetter Ai Ogura after setting his fastest lap on the 2020 Honda he only rode for the first time today.

Straight out of the box in Spain the experienced McPhee delivered a strong sign of intent and headed the timesheets for three of the first four sessions.

Delivering a blistering 1’45.175secs lap in the very first session of the test, the Scotsman convincingly set the early pace.

His final day, when he was aboard the new 2020-spec machine, was truncated as he only completed 21 laps, but he still set his fastest time of the test with a 1’44.720 to ensure he finished second overall on combined times. In doing so, he also dipped under the existing circuit lap record.

“It’s been a really productive three days here in Jerez, working more with the geometry of the bike. Trying some different setting changes we managed to make a good improvement and more importantly have a clear path in which direction we need to work,” said McPhee.

“Day-by-day we managed to improve the lap time and two days in a row we were under the lap record so I’m super-happy for this and especially to be inside the 1min 44secs bracket was a nice way to finish the test.

“We made the first two days on the 2019 bike and the last day on the 2020 bike which is very similar although there are some areas of improvement over what we had before, so I’m really excited going onto the next test in Qatar and even more excited to start the season.”