Jake Dixon will line up for his first ever AmericasGP from 13th on the COTA grid after securing his Q2 spot in Moto2 qualifying on Saturday.

The Petronas Sprinta Racing rider qualified neatly behind his teammate Xavi Vierge after a positive showing in the morning’s FP3, which saw him directly through to the pole shootout session.

The Brit was inside the top four for the majority of the weekend’s final practice and running 2’10.4 pace from the outset. Despite suffering false neutrals in his final two runs he ended FP3 13th. Dixon’s initial flying lap in Q2 – a 2’0.047 – saw him springboard into fourth early on, however, he was unable to improve as the session wore on leaving him on the fifth row for Sunday’s race - his first at the American circuit after an FP1 crash ruled him out of the remainder of his 2019 visit.
 
“FP3 was a little crazy and I’ve been suffering with some false neutrals, but I think everyone is here. This morning on one of my best laps I hit one, but luckily I could still go through to Q2.

“I thought I had a bit in hand and was looking forward to qualifying, however it didn’t go completely how I thought it would. I struggled a little with grip, but I think it was down to the track more than anything else.

“I wasn’t able to extract the best out of the bike today, but overall I feel pretty good. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow; it’s going to be 18 hard laps and definitely going to be a physical one with all the bumps.

“I think doing the laps is the key to success around here and experience is everything, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow. I think if we can fight for the top 10 then I’ll be really happy with that for my first race here.”