McPhee plagued by mystery issues

Scotsman John McPhee has been left with effectively no winter testing completed successfully on his Saxoprint Peugeot machine after a recurring problem that has plagued the team since day one of the first official test at Jerez.

Struggling throughout this week’s Qatar test to diagnose the issue, it finally took desperate measures from the team to try and identify the root of the issue, as he told MCN after the final day of the test.

“I tried a back-to-back run with Masbou – we both went out, came back in, switched bikes and went out again. I went faster on his bike than he had! Then we put all his settings into my bike and the same problem came back again.

“I’ve been talking to the guys and they’re going to bring me some new front and rear suspension and maybe chassis parts for the race, to try and cure it. It means that testing ahs been a bit of a waste and we won’t have much luck in the race, but there’s relief knowing we’re getting to the end of it.”

McPhee, who finished the three-day test in 30^th overall, will at least have the benefit of an extra day to help him come to grips with the issue after their new parts arrive, with the opening round of the championship this weekend being a four-day affair at the Qatari track.