Jake Dixon impressed in Aragón MotoGP qualifying this afternoon, running within eight-tenths of Johann Zarco’s session topping time on his Petronas Yamaha.

Despite admitting he made mistakes in his one and only flying lap at the end of the Q1 session, Dixon was all smiles and openly proud of his achievements and progression so far in his second weekend in the premier class. Having posted a 1’48.146 lap, the 25-year-old will line up on the back of the grid but he knows there was a lot more potential in the tank, if only he had the time to prove it.

“Everything is coming a lot easier this weekend and the gap is a lot smaller,” Dixon explained on Saturday afternoon.

“I made a massive improvement throughout FP3, also into qualifying. In Q1 I was only eight-tenths off the top time so for me was really happy. I made one small error in my fast lap because I only had one lap on the last tyre because there was a lot of playing about so, I made a mistake and I think I lost about two to three-tenths in a couple of areas. So if I hadn’t have done that, who knows? I could potentially be around sixth to seventh in Q1 which would have been really good for me.

“I really enjoyed it and it’s just a matter of now learning because I’m coming closer and closer, feeling better and better, but obviously that will be my last time attack and it was nice but it's a shame because I felt like there was a little bit more to be giving in that session.

“Overall it’s really good, I’m massively enjoying the big bike. It’s a huge learning experience every time I go out. I didn’t do a time attack yesterday, as I did all of them today, and maybe it would have been nice to have done one so I had a reference today, but still really enjoyed qualifying. It’s been a positive weekend so far and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow. I’m hoping to feel good with the bike, have a good race and try to get into a battle for as long as I can.”

When asked if he was able to learn from the riders around him and adjust his riding style accordingly, the Brit explained for him, it was more about the perfect lap, than the styles on show.

“To be fair, when you following the rider you don't really think so much on the rider in front, you try to do the best you can do and try to see where they're stronger and not on what they're doing. So it's difficult to say, they're all great riders. They all have their own strengths and all bikes have their own strengths.”

With his sojourn in the top flight almost over, the question of his future is never far away. Dixon is his usual positive self on the matter, indicating that he will go wherever the best offer and best fit takes him, however, he’s adamant he would love to stay in MotoGP if the opportunity allows.

“Look, wherever the offer I feel that the best is for me, I will obviously take,” he said simply. “It would be nice to stay here, but also I would never dismiss a great opportunity in World Superbikes either because if I have nothing here, then obviously WorldSBK, will be a great path for me. As you see, just after two races, I'm a lot closer to the front guys and I think now we've nearly done two days of what testing would be, so I feel like we are close to getting to the feeling that I need to be able to be fast and consistent but I'm open to anything.

“I would love to stay here. I would love to be in the main class but who knows if it will happen or not, but if there's a great opportunity in WorldSBK I wouldn't dismiss that either,” he confirmed.