'Difficult challenges' but John McPhee 'excited' for Moto2 debut

Almost twelve years after his world championship debut, John McPhee will finally get the chance to step up to the intermediate Moto2 grand prix class at Aragon this weekend.

The triple Moto3 race winner will take over SRT team-mate Jake Dixon's Kalex Moto2 machine as the Englishman in-turn spends a second race in MotoGP on the injured Franco Morbidelli's Yamaha M1.

Moving from his usual 250cc Honda to the 765cc Triumph-powered machinery is arguably a bigger step than Dixon's Moto2-MotoGP switch – and, unlike former BSB title contender Dixon, McPhee has no prior experience of racing a larger bike.

But at 27 McPhee knows his time in the junior class is limited and a solid performance this weekend could help open Moto2 doors for 2022, when the current SRT Moto3 and Moto2 teams will be disbanded.

"There are going to be some difficult challenges this weekend, the biggest one being that I’ve never raced a big bike before," said McPhee, currently 16th in the Moto3 standings with a best finish of fourth.

The Scotsman's only prior Moto2 experience is limited to 15 laps at Barcelona in 2019, as a ‘thank you’ from SRT for handing the Malaysian team its first ever grand prix win at Le Mans.

"Trying to manage the extra power and weight for a race distance will be tricky, but I’ve been training hard," McPhee added.

"There’s no pressure or expectation from my side, but of course I want to do the best possible job I can and I will try to adapt as fast as possible to be competitive.

"I really like the Aragon circuit a lot and it’s somewhere that I’ve been really strong in the past in Moto3. This should definitely help the move to the Moto2 class.

"There’s quite a lot of information I need to learn from the electronics side, but I’m really excited and looking forward to the experience."

Riding alongside McPhee will be SRT's regular Moto2 rider Xavi Vierge, currently tenth in the world championship with one podium.

"I’m happy that we were able to score some good points [eighth place] at Silverstone and I hope we can continue like this, to fight for the top positions this weekend at Aragon," Vierge said.

"It’s a track that I really like, because as a kid I always loved Laguna Seca and Aragon has some corners that are similar – especially Turn 8 and Turn 9.

"With the many uphills and downhills it is a difficult track, as you can’t see the exit on some corners and the way you ride here can make a big difference. I’m really looking forward to being back there."

McPhee's Moto3 place alongside Darryn Binder will be taken by Malaysian CEV Junior World Championship rider Syarifuddin Azman.