Jake Dixon qualified 9^th for the San Marino Grand Prix after crashing out of Q2 late on, while Filip Salac had a tough day and finished 18^th.

Conditions were once again perfect for the two Moto2 sessions on Saturday, with the afternoon Q2 taking place in ambient temperatures of 27 degrees.

The pace was red hot on Saturday afternoon, with the top twelve riders under the outright circuit record from the previous day.

Both Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders Jake Dixon and Filip Salac will be starting the 16^th Moto2 race of 2025, held over 22 laps, at 12.15 local time.

Jake Dixon, 9^th – 1’34.423

FP2 was a final chance to confirm some preparations for Sunday’s race. And Jake once again showcased his speed by placing 2^nd, just 0.06s back of Celestino Vietti’s fastest time.

The Briton was immediately competitive in Q2, setting a time good enough for the provisional front row in the opening seven minutes.

But the 29-year old then crashed out at Turn 6 when pushing the final minutes. As others improved, Jake was shuffled back to 9^th, even if he was just 0.2s off pole.

“It wasn’t a bad day. But it’s so close in Moto2. You’re just two tenths off and you’re starting behind the first two rows. I made a small mistake at the end of the session when I was pushing to just gain a few tenths more. Unfortunately, I went down. But I’m OK and I know why I crashed. Overall, it’s been a solid day again. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow starting from the third row. It would have been a better result I I’d started on the first two but I’m confident of getting stuck in tomorrow and seeing where we end up.”

Filip Salac 18^th – 1’34.985

After struggling for feel throughout Friday, Filip and his crew made a number of changes for FP2, when he finished 19^th.

Further changes followed ahead of Q2, but the Czech rider was far from comfortable as he placed 18^th.

The 23-year old was not a million miles away, lapping just 0.7s off pole and the new outright lap record. Filip and his crew will work through this evening to find a solution for tomorrow’s 22 laps.

“Well, this wasn’t the Saturday we had planned here in Italy. P18 isn’t a great result and I feel really bad with the bike. Whatever we tried to do with set-up changes, we found there were more problems that weren’t solved. We must double check everything because no matter what we do we have the same bad feeling. If we score points tomorrow, I think that would be something of a result. It’s been the worst weekend of the season so far. But we’ll keep working and will give it everything in tomorrow’s race.”