Dixon fast out of the blocks in Barcelona
After a positive start, Jake Dixon finished day one at the Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya with the 3rd fastest time while Filip Salac was 14th.
It may be early September but the summer was still very much in place in northern Spain with the Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya bathed in fabulous sunshine all day.
The asphalt of the 4.66km track is extremely low on grip, making tyre life a crucial factor this weekend. Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders Jake Dixon and Filip Salac worked on this through the afternoon.
As has been evident over the past two rounds, Moto2 times were exceptionally competitive in the afternoon Practice session with just 0.3s covering the top 14 riders.
Jake Dixon, 3rd – 1’42.277
After a brilliant showing in Hungary, it was a steady start to the day for Jake who placed 13th in FP1.
The afternoon Practice session was a good chance for the 29-year old to post a longer run on used rubber. 10 laps into an 11-lap run and Jake was able to set a 1’43.8 time, which was strong rhythm.
The Briton went out on new rubber toward the end of Practice and posted his fastest time of the day, which was just 0.1s off pace setter Aron Canet.
“It was a good day! Anytime you come to this track you know managing the tyre life will be key. From lap one I felt pretty good. I feel we’ve built from Balaton Park to here and this morning we just picked up where we left off two weeks ago. I’m really happy with that. I need to clean up a few aspects of my riding here. Come tomorrow I’ll make a few small changes and we need to fix one or two things with the setting. We’ll try to keep our feet on the ground and have a good qualifying tomorrow. A place on the first two rows will be key. If we manage that then we’ll be in with a shout on Sunday.”
Filip Salac, 14th – 1’42.465
Filip had a strong start to the 15th Grand Prix of the season, by placing 7th in FP1.
Like his team-mate, the 23-year old showed strong rhythm over an 11-lap run at the start of Practice, when he posted 3 laps in the 1’42s or low 1’43s.
The Czech rider was unable to improve on his final run, which meant he placed 14th overall, just over 0.2 off the fastest time.
“The first day in Barcelona is done and overall, the feeling wasn’t bad. I was always toward the front of the sessions. Unfortunately, before the final run of the afternoon we made a set-up change which didn’t work as we expected. We lost a bit of rear grip as a result of that so I wasn’t able to improve late on. But at least we know that isn’t the direction to go in tomorrow. We still stayed inside the top 14, which means we’re in Q2. The pace isn’t bad so let’s focus on qualifying tomorrow. The aim will be to start as close to the front as possible and that will be key to a good result on Sunday.”