Heavy rain showers and unpredictable track conditions made for two dramatic qualifying sessions at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, where John McPhee proved to be a wet-weather master, taking his seventh Moto3 pole position, the first one of 2020. PETRONAS Sprinta Racing team-mate Khairul Idham Pawi will line up for European GP 25th.

Wet track conditions in FP3 ensured that the times set yesterday could not be beaten, guaranteeing a Q2 spot for John. After gathering some valuable data, John ended the session on top with a 1min 49.559secs lap. Heavy rain started to fall at the beginning of qualifying, but the weather didn’t prevent the Scot from setting the fastest lap time of the session – 1min 52.252secs – and claiming his seventh Moto3 pole position, and third with the team.

Tomorrow’s Moto3 action will kick off with Warm Up at 9am local time before the 23-lap race gets underway at 11am local time.

John McPhee - 1st (1’52.252)

It’s a really nice feeling to take our first pole position of this year, especially with the conditions today. We thought we were on the ball, getting ready with the slick tyres for when the green light went on, but then it started raining. We knew we were going to have to with the wet setting and then once we rolled out the garage the rain just started getting heavier and heavier. Thankfully we had scrubbed the tyre in during FP3, which really helped us be up to speed in the first few laps, but then I felt confident enough to improve the time further towards the end of the session. We don’t know what weather to expect tomorrow but we’ve got a good base setting on the bike, so I think we can be fast whatever the weather. I think it’s going to be an exciting day.