Jake Dixon’s dream race quickly became a heartbreaking nightmare at Le Mans this afternoon after the Petronas rider crashed out of the Moto2 lead with just four laps of action remaining in the French GP.

Starting eighth on the grid, Dixon made good progress off the line as he moved through the pack, gaining two positions per lap in the opening stages before capitalising on his teammate’s mistake to advance into second by just lap three. Sitting comfortably behind fellow-Brit Sam Lowes, the young challenger eyed his opportunity, taking advantage on lap seven as Lowes locked the front and gifting the number 96 a three-second lead.

Riding with a mature head and taking no risks, Dixon looked set to take his maiden Moto2 win as he settled into a comfortable rhythm one-second ahead of the Marc VDS rider but disaster struck at the end of lap 20 when a turn-14 crash brought his race to an agonising early end.

“That wasn’t the ideal result but it is what it is. The main thing is that I was leading the race and was really fast," said Dixon.

“We haven’t got long until the next race at Aragón, it’s next weekend, so that’s good. Now I can look back at today’s race and reflect that I was doing a really good job and I know that I’m going to be fast from here onwards.

“The team are working really well, everyone is doing such a great job and I can’t thank everyone enough. It was unfortunate but these things happen and we’ll come back stronger.”