Jake Dixon continued his excellent run of topping every session at the Grand Prix of the Americas by taking his first pole position of the season in Saturday’s Q2 session while Filip Salac was 9^th.

Overnight rain left the epic 20-corner Circuit of the Americas damp ahead of Moto2’s morning FP2 session, although the track had dried sufficiently for slick tyres to be used throughout.

That left Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders Jake Dixon and Filip Salac with just one practice session to work on fully dry settings ahead of qualifying.

The clouds had dispersed, and the temperatures had gone up by the time qualifying got underway at 13:45 local time. Q2 took place in track temperatures of 46 degrees.

Jake Dixon, 1^st – 2’07.432

After leading both of Friday’s sessions, Jake looked fast and confident in the morning FP2 session. His final time of 2’08.216 was 0.3s faster than second place.

Jake and his team made a set-up change ahead of Q2, which wasn’t to the Briton’s liking. A quick alteration after his 1^st run immediately made him more at ease on the bike.

The 29-year then set a time good enough for pole position on the 1^st lap of his 2^nd run. The 7^th pole position of Jake’s Moto2 career was taken with 0.2s in hand over Manuel Gonzalez in 2^nd.

“A massive credit to the team. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing

“I’m delighted to get my first pole position of the season! We made a slight change to the bike ahead of Q2 and it wasn’t in the right direction. It’s a massive credit to how professional the team is that they made a quick change to get me back out and more comfortable. We couldn’t get the ideal feeling which we had but we were somewhere near it. It was definitely better. I made a slight mistake on my fastest lap in the second to last corner. I didn’t expect that lap time honestly. But a massive credit to the team. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. Tomorrow is an unknown because we only had wet sessions yesterday and a dry one this morning. My aim is top five and remain consistent. I’ll see how the race pans out early on and then I’ll go from there.”

Filip Salac, 9^th – 2’07.974

Filip described Friday as one of the toughest of his career. Yet he was a new man on Saturday, and was immediately competitive in fully dry conditions. He placed 2^nd in FP2, just behind his team-mate.

The Czech rider had to come through Q1, which he did with the minimum of fuss. He placed 3^rd in that session, posting his best lap time while riding alone.

Despite holding a spot on the provisional front row in the first 6 minutes of Q2, a mistake on his 2^nd run meant he couldn’t improve. He ended the session 9^th, 0.5 back of pole.

“I think we’re really strong and can do a good race tomorrow”“It was a good day today. After a tough day yesterday, I woke up in good form. Jake and I were 1-2 this morning and felt good in not fully dry conditions – the track was largely dry with a few wet spots. The bike was working well. Then I went through Q1 by doing the lap alone, which pleased me. In Q2 I was able to do just one good lap, which was the first one. Then I was improving but I did a mistake which cost me a better position. I’m a bit sad about that but the third row is still good for the race. It’s not as good as the first, but when we check the riders in front there aren’t so many that have good pace. They all did the laps behind someone. I think we’re really strong and can do a good race tomorrow. I can’t wait for it and hope I can do a good result with Jake for the team. That’s the aim!”