A disappointing Saturday for Jake Dixon ended in a turn 15 double qualifying crash for the Petronas Sprinta Moto2 squad at Misano.
Dixon had a strong start to the Emilia Romagna GP’s FP3 and was momentarily the pacesetter before his best 1’49.024 lap placed him 12th in the morning session. Friday’s FP2 effort, however, provided his promotion into Q2 from fourth overall.
The weekend’s challenging conditions continued in qualifying with Dixon falling foul at the penultimate corner seconds after Xavi Vierge, in an almost mirror-image incident. Resulting in the Spaniard and assisting marshals running from the incoming SRT machine. His tentative 1’38.556 opening lap left him 17th on the grid for Sunday’s 25-lap race.
“The conditions were really bad today and I lost the front in qualifying, like several other riders did,” Dixon admitted on Saturday afternoon. “Unfortunately my teammate had already crashed in that corner, so it wasn’t an ideal situation. I didn’t see any yellow flags and of course if I had seen some I wouldn’t have gone through the corner fast. I don’t want to put people at risk.
“Up until then the day was going well, we were just unfortunate that the weather caught us out. I think if I hadn’t crashed in qualifying, then we could have been on the front two rows and had a really good start to the race. I felt good on the bike though, so I’m just looking forward to tomorrow now.”
Dixon was later issued a long lap penalty for crashing under yellow flag, the Brit immediately accepting of the situation, writing on social media:
"The difference a day makes. Firstly I want to thank the universe for keeping us all safe in today’s qualifying. My intention whilst on track is never to cross into danger , I did not see the flag , I did not see the crash in-front. With only seconds between, it makes it very difficult to comment on wrong and right. For a racer we know.
“I receive my penalty of a long lap for the race tomorrow in peace knowing that everyone is safe. I leave it there. Race day will of course be difficult, let’s see what a different day brings.”
