It was a case of ‘close but no cigar’ for Jake Dixon on Saturday as the Zinia GasGas Aspar rider missed the Austrian Moto2 front row by 0.003s.

Dixon’s 1’34.104 lap placed the Brit third until the dying seconds of qualifying when championship leader Augusto Fernandez denied him the celebrations in favour of the Red Bull KTM Ajo team on home turf.

Despite the disappointment, the 26-year-old has shown consistent front-running pace across the Spielberg weekend having topped both the first and third practices, and is confident he has what it takes for a podium fight from the head of the second row in Sunday’s 25-lap race.

“It's been a good day, but I haven't got the perfect lap,” Dixon admitted on Saturday afternoon. “I have given the maximum; we are only three thousandths off the front row.

"If I had had a reference, it could have helped me but the positive thing is that I feel good.

“Tomorrow we will fight for the podium, we will see what we can achieve.”