With the start of the 2025 Moto2 World Championship fast approaching, Elf Marc VDS Racing’s new line-up of Jake Dixon and Filip Salaç kicked off their pre-season campaign with a positive two-day test at the Algarve International Circuit in Portugal.

The Portimao test gave Dixon and Salac their first opportunity to put the new Boscoscuro chassis through its paces and both produced standout performances to finish second and seventh respectively.

Dixon immediately unleashed the potential of the Italian crafted chassis on a dry day two to lap under record pace while Salaç posted a series of impressively fast laps that put him among the leading protagonists.

After leading the Boscoscuro challenge in Portimao, the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team is back on track next week for the three-day official IRTA test in Jerez before heading off to Thailand’s Buriram track for the season opener on March 2.

/// JAKE DIXON: 2ND, 1:41.281

Dixon wasted no time in getting to grips with the Boscoscuro chassis and a lap of 1.43.072 placed the Briton eighth on the leaderboard on day one.

Taking advantage of more favourable conditions on the second day, Dixon experimented with a range of set-up options to build knowledge and experience with the Boscoscuro machine.

The hard work with his crew certainly paid off as the 29-year-old managed to improve by almost two seconds and he eventually finished second quickest with a time of 1:41.281 that was nearly 0.3s inside the Portimao all-time lap record set by Manu Gonzalez last season.

“The Boscoscuro really exceeded my expectations”

“It feels great to finally get out on track with the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team and this was a very important two days for us. It’s my first time riding the Boscoscuro chassis after a few years with Kalex and there are definitely a lot of positives but also some points we need to work on. I’m not really sure what I expected from the bike, but I have to say the Boscoscuro really exceeded my expectations, so I’m really happy about that. We did a lot of consistent laps and tried a lot of changes to try and understand the bike and we were constantly improving. And it’s great to be in this team. They have a very calming influence on me and now I can’t wait to get to Jerez next week to continue working on the bike and being as ready as we can for the first race in Buriram.”

/// FILIP SALAÇ: 7TH, 1:41.887

Salaç’s second season with the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team got off to a strong start and the Czech star looked instantly comfortable and quick on the Boscoscuro chassis to set the fifth fastest time on the opening day.

His eye-catching time of 1:42.959 was only 0.7s off Fermin Aldeguer’s Moto2 race lap record, with Salac raving about the rear grip provided by the Boscoscuro.

Day two was just as productive and like Dixon he was able to lap in the 1.41 bracket to close the test only 0.033s outside of the top six.

“It’s been a very positive two days on the Boscoscuro”

“I am so happy to be back on a Moto2 bike after the winter break and it has been a very positive first two days riding the Boscoscuro. The first day was spent mainly just trying to adapt to the new bike and building confidence and feeling and on the second day we started making a lot of changes to understand the package more. The Boscoscuro is very different compared to what I’ve previously raced in Moto2. It is more rigid, but it seems there’s a lot more rear grip and I think Jake and I adapted very well. Every outing my feeling was getting better and better, and I think already we can see this bike has a very high potential. We tried a time attack, and this is one area where we will need to take some steps but all we need is more time to take the bike to the limit and understand how to get the maximum potential out of it.”