Staying with theꦜ same team, machine and crew for the first time in his grand prix career has been a 'really valuable'🌳 experience for John McPhee, as he heads into the 2020 Moto3 season.

The Scot - who claimed the Sepang squad's first grand prix victory at Le Mans last season, plus two further podiums and a pair of poles - has ra♌ced six different brands of machine for seven different teams since his 2010 debut.

But the stability provided by remaining at Petronas has allowed Mc🌳Phee to prepare better than ever for this 🌃year's world championship.

"Overall the 2020 pre-season has been really 🌳productive. It’s the first time in my racing career thaꦰt I have the same bike, team and crew for two seasons in a row, so that’s something really valuable," said McPhee.

"It means that we have been able to focus purely on riding and finding the correct feeling with the bike. After the last few days testing here in Qatar, I feel ready and I’m real⭕ly looking forward to the first race.

"Obviously as a rider the꧒ test is important, but the race is where the a𓃲ction really begins."

McPhee was eꦐighth fastest (+0.7s) at the recent test in Qatar, where team-mate Khairul Idham Pawi was 24th out of 31 riders.

In contrast to McPhee, there has been a major change for Pawi this winter, having switched from Moto2 to Moto3, where he made history for Malay🍒sia with two wins during a lone 2016 season in the 250cc class.

This Sunday will♈ also see Pawi line-up on a grand prix grid for the first time since April last year, aftꦚer an injury-wrecked 2019.

"It hasn’t been an easy pre-season but I think we’ve been progressing every day and our adaptation to the Moto3 bike is going the right way🌠. We still need to ride more kilometres and achieve more experience though,"🌊 Pawi said.

"I’m really excited to start the first race of the season and make my official return to the Moto3 category. It will also bꦇe my first race after nearly a year, when I raced in Austin, so I have to admit that I’m a little bit nervous – but that means I need to race!

"The first target will be to complete the race and fight for the points. The MotoGP cancellation has changed the race time so we will race in different track conditions with respಞect to last weekend’s tests."

The 𒅌cancellation of the MotoGP category at Losail means the Moto2 and Moto3 class action will take place later in the daꦇy than originally planned.