Scotland's John McPhee fought through the first-ever Moto3 qualifying one session at Qatar's MotoGP to take fourth place on the grid for tomorrow's race.

The Petronas Sprinta rider took a big step forward under the Qatari night sky, securing his progression from Q1 when he posted a lap of 2’06.718 – the second fastest time of the session – with three minutes remaining.

McPhee then made his challenge for pole position, lapping even faster with a 2’06.308 that proved sufficient for the top of row two.

"I am very happy, not just for me but for the whole Petronas Sprinta Racing team. To come through Q1 and then qualify on the second row in Q2 is a great result," said McPhee.

"I felt strong in the preseason tests and I thought I could be up at the front, but we struggled a little in FP2 yesterday, so it’s a great achievement to have turned the situation around.

"I’m looking forward to the race because my race pace has been my strong point up to now and I think it should allow me to challenge at the front in the race."