John McPhee, Ayumu Sasaki join Sterilgarda Max Racing for 2022

John McPhee has been confirmed as remaining in the Moto3 class for 2022 as part of an all-new Sterilgarda Max Racing line-up alongside Ayumu Sasaki.

McPhee, 27, has been a full time Moto3 rider since the 2013 season claiming three wins, 15 podiums and five poles with a best so far of fifth in the (2019) world championship standings.

That was in McPhee's first season with the Sepang Racing Team, with which he had hoped to graduate to Moto2, an option that has now officially closed with SRT's disbandment at the end of this season.

The Malaysian squad's exit also cast doubt on McPhee's future but he will now join Max Biaggi's Husqvarna-backed team, which has won a race with Romano Fenati in both 2020 and 2021.

“I’m really excited to be joining the Sterilgarda Max Racing Team and Husqvarna Motorcycles for 2022," McPhee said. "The team has done incredibly well in their short time in the world championship and with the likes of Max himself and Peter Öttl [Team Manager] looking after me I feel like it’s a great opportunity to really get the best from myself. The FR 250 GP has been impressive this season so I’m excited to see what’s possible on board something new.”

Sasaki meanwhile joins from the KTM Tech3 team. The Japanese has taken one podium in each of the last two seasons, and is comfortably on course for his best championship position of ninth, but is still seeking a first Moto3 win.

“I am really happy to announce that I will race with the Sterilgarda Max Racing Team next year," Sasaki said. "I hope to be able to do well right from the start and exploit the full potential of this team, which in its third year in the world championship has already achieved important results. I want to thank all those who have made this agreement possible."

Team principal Max Biaggi said: “This year we again managed to bring the Husqvarna Motorcycles brand to the top of the podium, which was a source of pride for the Max Racing Team working group.

"Having ambitious goals is our nature and for the 2022 season, together with Husqvarna Motorcycles and Sterilgarda, we wanted to internationalise our project to reach new targets.

"The combination of John McPhee and Ayumu Sasaki represents experience combined with perspective; the hope is to work with both riders to have consistency of performance that allows them to enter the top positions of the Moto3 world championship.”