John McPhee scored his first podium this year by finishing third in the German Grand Prix, his previous podium coming when he finished third at Assen last year. It was his sixth podium since his Grand Prix debut. With Niccolo Antonelli who won in the Czech Republic in 2015, the Scotsman from Alain Bronec's team was the only other driver present this year on the grid to have already won there (in 2016, on Peugeot).
Last Friday, third in the first session, McPhee only finished free practice in seventeenth position (like his race number, 17). Did this worry Alain Bronec ?
“No, it didn't worry me because we know John's potential, which is pretty consistent. During this session, we used worn tires, and we were able to see that he had a very good pace, which was favorable for the race. »
In qualifying, John jumped from 2'09.176 (his best time of the three free sessions combined) to 2'08.400, which earned him second place in the middle of the first row of the starting grid. Alain, how such progress?
“The qualifying session was not easy. In the first run, it went pretty well, then the wind picked up in the middle of the session, and things became really complicated because at the exit of the first turn there is a straight line slightly uphill which made the situation difficult.
“In the second run John – again with worn tires – confirmed his potential. We knew which way to go. For the third run, we put on a set of new tires, but it wasn't easy because everyone wanted to wait to get good traction due to the wind that had picked up.
“John finally left, as did his teammate Stefano Nepa, and he was second fastest. This session was really stressful because the times were set in the last seconds. »
McPhee remained in the leading group throughout the race, taking the lead on lap eight. Unfortunately, halfway through the race, an unusual incident destroyed his front tire (see title photo). What happened ?
“After starting in the lead, John fell back a little in the rankings. But it is true that the game of aspirations was quite important in this race. We hoped that John would be able to break away with one or two pilots, but that was not possible. It was a big group (editor’s note: there were 18 drivers at mid-race in 1.8) and everyone was overtaking everywhere non-stop.
“In the last chicane, John came in quite slowly because he really wanted to prepare the exit well in order to be able to overtake drivers on the slipstream. At that moment, another rider got next to him, and his front wheel hit the part that holds the stand at the rear of the motorcycle and it tore the tire by 20 cm.
“The collision was harmless and without the tearing of the tire John would certainly not have fallen, but as soon as he got the bike up he found himself with the tire flat, so he fell. It was not an ordinary fall. It's a real shame because we felt that with the worn tires John could drive fast. »
How does the CIP Green Power team view this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix at KTM?
“John likes the route and Stefano is going to discover it. The KTMs are currently doing quite well on this circuit. There is heavy braking and quite significant straight lines going uphill, so I think the potential of the KTMs will be expressed. We are rather confident.
“John has been really strong for several races. There, in Brno, it was really a lack of success. Tearing the sidewall of the tire like this happens extremely rarely.
“We will continue to give priority to testing because it is important. We will do the best possible to be on the second row as much as possible with John and continue to progress with Stefano. In Austria, it will once again be difficult for the drivers to break away. It might still be a group ride. We're going to have to fight and we can't wait! »
Photos © CIP Green Power, and John McPhee
