WorldSSP: John McPhee joins D34G Racing to replace Bayliss

John McPhee will join the D34G Racing team at Aragon as a substitute rider.

John McPhee will join the D34G Racing team at Aragon, riding their competitive Ducati Panigale V2. The Scotsman will replace Oli Bayliss who continues his recovery after a crash earlier on in the season.

McPhee will join Maximilian Kofler in the team at Aragon and will have to understand the twin-cylinder machine.

Oli Bayliss was injured at Donington Park after a crash during the Superpole qualifying session in July. Bayliss suffered from a left shoulder injury and underwent surgery before the Most round.

McPhee raced with the Vince64 Racing Team at the beginning of the season, claiming a podium in the opening race of the year at Phillip Island. He would race the team’s Kawasaki and have mixed results throughout the season.

The Scotsman is currently in 16^th position in the WorldSSP standings, behind fellow Kawasaki rider, Tom Booth-Amos. McPhee suffered from nine consecutive races where they scored no points in the Championship.

In Moto3, it would take four years to claim his first win, at the 2016 Czech Republic Grand Prix onboard a Peugeot. He would finish his time in the championship, with four race wins and 16 podiums.

2022 was McPhee’s final year in Moto3, due to the age limit in the class being 28 years old. He rode for the Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max team and would gift them with a final race win in Malaysia.

McPhee said: “A huge thanks to Davide Giuliano and the D34G team for giving me this opportunity to join them. I’ve been very impressed when I saw their team setup, and their Ducati V2 looks incredible!

“I’ll be looking to make my adaption to the bike as quickly as possible and look forward to the upcoming races. I’d like to also wish Oli Bayliss a speedy recovery, we hope to see you back on track soon.”

Davide Giugliano added: “I would like to give our welcome to John within the team. He is a rider with plenty of experience, and we are happy to have him on board.

“We will do everything in our power to put him in the best position to do well and use all our skills, experience, and expertise to help him adapt to the Panigale V2 955 as quickly as possible – given he’s never ridden this bike before. We are looking forward to working together.”

Image credit: John McPhee