Filip Salac secured an automatic spot in Q2 by placing 7^th in an ultra-competitive Practice session on Friday at the German GP, while Jake Dixon had a decent day despite finishing 17^th.

After the hot temperatures at Aragon, Mugello and Assen, the Sachsenring was relatively cool by comparison on Friday with both sessions held in cloudy, dry conditions.

Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders Jake Dixon and Filip Salac rode in ambient temperatures of 23 degrees in the afternoon Practice session.

Friday’s Practice session was ultra-competitive. As well as the previous lap record being broken by 0.3s, just 0.73s covered the top 20 Moto2 riders.

Jake Dixon, 17^th – 1’23.017

Jake was fast from the off in FP1 and posted the 2^nd fastest time in FP1, just 0.015s off pace setter Joe Roberts’ best time.

The afternoon started well for the Briton. Over a 15-lap run, Jake managed 7 laps in the 1’23s, which was a seriously strong pace.

Yet the 29-year old couldn’t find speed in his final time attack to breach the top 14. But he knows Saturday should finish on a more positive note.

“It’s not been a bad day. To be fair, this morning was pretty good. Even this afternoon was pretty good. Overall, my rhythm wasn’t bad. We probably missed one or two tenths to be the best out there. Then for the one flying lap at the end, I just got it massively wrong. I out-braked myself on my first flying lap. On my second I pushed but just didn’t feel that good. I hit a bit of a brick wall, doing 1m 23.0s. I can’t really explain that but we’ll work on it and try and come out better tomorrow.”

Filip Salac, 7^th – 1’22.823

Having benefited from 9 days of rest after the Brno test, Filip started the day strongly and placed 4^th in FP1, just 0.103s off the fastest time.

The Czech rider enjoyed a strong 1^st run in Practice, over 7 laps, which included the fastest time in the session at that point.

He then pitted for a setting tweak and crashed at low speed at Turn 1 soon after. The spill tweaked Filip’s injured right shoulder, but he’s confident he will be fine for Saturday’s sessions.

“The first day’s done at the Sachsenring. It’s good to be back after the injury I suffered at Assen. I felt quite good in the morning. We did a good job and were competitive. Then in the afternoon I immediately set a fast lap. But I came in and we tried something different on the bike. Then I crashed at Turn 1 on my second lap. It was a shame that we didn’t do more laps to understand just how good the setting is. After that I had a bit of pain in the shoulder due to the crash. Also, we kept the set-up from what we tried and it wasn’t helpful. We’ll maybe come back to our original setting tomorrow. We also need to see how the weather is as it could be wet. Overall, I’m quite happy because we did a good job even if I don’t feel 100%. Even still, we’re fighting for the top positions, which is good.”