John McPhee said he cannot explain how it feels to have secured his first Moto3 pole position since Mugello 2017, after mastering the tricky conditions at Le Mans.

The Brit worked was forced to work his way through Q1 after failing to get into the top fifteen through free practice. McPhee comfortably got through in the opening session on a drying tack, before using his added time on the French to his advantage in the second session.

Fighting off the charges of Marcos Ramirez and Tony Arbolino, McPhee secured his first pole position in two years, and was almost lost for words.

“I can’t explain what it means to have taken pole position here,” said the 24-year-old.

“I’m very happy for both myself and for the team, because we had not been getting the results we wanted. We worked very hard and in the end we have achieved what we had been looking for.

“We had difficult conditions yesterday and didn’t have a good day; I made a couple of mistakes that forced us to go through Q1. In the first qualifying session I found more speed, I felt good; the bike worked better to secure a place in Q2, where I could clock a fast time and get the pole position.”

With uncertainty around the conditions for Sunday’s race, McPhee said he feels strong in both the wet and the dry.

“I feel strong in any conditions,” he said. “Whether dry or wet so I think there will be a great battle tomorrow; we don’t know what the weather will be like, but I feel good.”