Petronas’ Jake Dixon will start the SpanishGP 10th on the Moto2 grid after a crash curtailed his Q2 session at Jerez.

Jubilant to have set Friday’s third fastest time, Dixon remained in contention for Q2 promotion throughout most of FP3 despite not improving on his previous best. After finding himself outside the top-14 in the closing minutes, the Brit was able to post a 1’41.171 lap, just 0.330s shy of Remy Gardner’s benchmark, to secure 10th overall. 

The 25-year-old’s initial 1’41.266 hot-lap in Q2 saw him take a provisional place on the third row of the grid before a turn six crash curtailed his session with two minutes left on the clock. Prevented from further improvement, Dixon will start Sunday’s 23-lap race at the head of row four, in 10th position.

“I had a small crash in qualifying, which is a shame” Dixon explained honestly. “It was innocuous and I’m fine, it’s just annoying really. 

“Obviously it’s going to be difficult starting further back on the grid, but it is what it is. We tried our best but unfortunately it wasn’t good enough today” the Brit continued.

“There are a few things that I want to try and experiment with in morning warm up but I’m just going to give it my best and see what I can do. 

“I haven't particularly been really, really fast on the harder of the compounds, we're still struggling a little bit in a few areas but overall the main objective is obviously to enjoy it and I definitely did that!

“We still need to make a few improvements in a few areas because we made a few steps forward and then a couple more steps back but overall I enjoyed it.

“My plan for tomorrow, first of all, is to finish the race, score some good points and get some good information ahead of the next race in Le Mans.”