Heartbroken Jake Dixon believes his chances of taking the 2018 Bennetts British Superbike title died when his RAF Reserves Kawasaki expired in the second race at Assen yesterday.

The Kent youngster, who moves to Moto2 next season, needed to finish in front of champion-elect Leon Haslam in both races but a second behind the Kawasaki man in race one and the second-outing DNF puts him 61 points in arrears with only 75 on the table at Brands Hatch in two weeks.

"Me and the team were all in tears because it means so much. We are a little team, we've not got the biggest of budgets and we're racing against the factory Kawasaki team that has a load of money and the best equipment," said an emotional Dixon, speaking at Assen yesterday.

"It is gutting. People are saying it's not over but pretty much it is over, unless something drastic happens. It's same, I feel like I have been riding the best I have ever ridden, I feel like in that second race I definitely could have won it but I didn't, I blew up and had to retire.

“I felt really comfortable in the first race and was just biding my time behind Leon before making my move in the closing laps but when Hicky came by me it pushed me wide and I lost a lot of ground. I was a bit annoyed but he was riding his own race and I would probably have done the same but it left me with a lot of work to do and not much time to do it. I pushed as hard as I could, as seen by my fastest lap of the race coming right at the very end, but ultimately I just fell short which obviously allowed Leon to add five more points to his lead.”
 
“I was feeling good for the second race and keen to make amends but sadly it didn’t work out that way. I tried my hardest all weekend so when your all doesn’t seem to be good enough it makes it harder to deal with but it will also make me stronger. This weekend didn’t end the way we wanted it to but I’ll go to the final round with the same grit and determination as always and look to finish the season in the best way possible.”