Jake Dixon was 7^th and Filip Salac 9^th in a highly competitive Moto2 qualifying session at the Grand Prix of Czechia on Saturday.

After Friday’s rain, track conditions were close to perfect on qualifying day. All three of Saturday’s Moto2 sessions were dry, with Q2 taking place under cloudy skies and in ambient temperatures of 23 degrees.

Day one was a record-breaking outing at the 2025 Grand Prix of Czechia. And the pace was even quicker on Saturday. Barry Baltus’ pole time was 3.1s faster than the previous lap record at this track from 2019.

With a bumper crowd here on Saturday to cheer on home hero Filip Salac, the Brno Circuit could see a record attendance on Sunday, when the 18-lap Moto2 race will get underway at 12.15 local time.

Jake Dixon, 7^th – 1’58.980

Even if Jake was competitive in FP2, setting the 7^th fastest time, he was unhappy with the feeling of his bike around the undulating 5.4km layout.

The 29-year old then worked with his team in the late morning to find some improvements. With some adjustments to his riding style, he immediately felt better in Q2.

After setting a lap time good enough for a place on the front row on his 1^st run, the Briton was then baulked by another rider, which prevented him from going faster. He ended Q2 7^th, 0.6s back of pole position.

“In the end it wasn’t so bad. The first run in Q2 was good. Then in the second I got baulked a bit by another rider who came back on the line after he was nearly off the track. That hampered my lap. Even if I could’ve eked out half a tenth, it would’ve put me in fifth position and the middle of the second row. But the third row isn’t the end of the world. Starting seventh puts us in a decent position, where we’ll hopefully be able to have a good race tomorrow. I rode much better than I did this morning. Thanks to the team for sticking with me and telling me I needed to improve, rather than changing the bike. That was all good and hopefully tonight I can have a bit of a reset, come back tomorrow even better than I did today and see what I can do.”

Filip Salac, 9^th – 1’59.103

Having finished Friday’s Practice in 2^nd, Filip was again competitive riding in front of his home fans in FP2, as he set the 3^rd fastest time.

The 23-year old decided to tuck in behind pace setter Joe Roberts during his 1^st run in Q2 and set his fastest time on lap 2 with plenty in reserve.

The Czech rider was ready to lower his times further in his 2^nd run but a lack of feel with the rear of his bike meant he couldn’t improve any further.

“It was a difficult day. In the morning we had really good pace and I was quite happy with the bike. In the end I wasn’t able to set as fast a lap as I wanted. But I was at the front. In qualifying I did my first lap in the tow behind Roberts. I knew I had something more because I was really not pushing yet still managed a 1’59.0s. I was like, ‘OK, it’s time to do that alone.’ When I went out on the second outing the rear tyre wasn’t working as it should. The bike wasn’t the same as the first outing. I couldn’t do any better and I didn’t even improve my lap time, which was strange on this kind of track. It’s a pity this happened and we’re starting from the third row. For sure, it’s not over. Starting from the first or second row would’ve made it easier. But we’re ready to give it our all and get stuck in tomorrow.”