Filip Salac gave his thousands of home fans plenty to cheer on a rain-affected day at Brno by finishing 2^nd in Practice, while Jake Dixon was 8^th.

After a five-year hiatus, Friday was the first chance for Elf Marc VDS Racing Team riders Jake Dixon and Filip Salac to ride the fabulous Brno Circuit with the full Moto2 grid.

The weather didn’t play ball on Friday. The morning FP1 session was held in fully wet conditions. Then the field only got five laps of dry running in Practice before a red flag prematurely ended the session due to deteriorating conditions.

The pace was hot at the very start of Practice with the previous Moto2 lap record from 2019 demolished by 2.4s.

Jake Dixon, 8^th – 1’59.991

Jake eased himself into the wet FP1 session on Friday morning. The Briton tried to stay out of trouble as he posted ten laps and the 5^th fastest time.

The 29-year old then sampled a new bike setting at the start of Practice as he sought more general feel with his Boscoscuro chassis.

The new setting wasn’t quite to his liking. Even still, he set the 8^th fastest time of the day, 0.9s back of pace setter Joe Roberts, and is hopeful of more speed when he reverts to his previous setting tomorrow.

“Day one in Brno is done. We didn’t do so much riding. The conditions this morning weren’t the best, with the rain and a wet track. Then this afternoon we only did five laps in the dry before the storm arrived. In that time, we tried something completely different to what we tested here a few weeks ago. It didn’t work, so we’ll go back to what we were using before when we get started tomorrow. Hopefully when we do that, we’ll be back to the feeling we had at the test and competitive again. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.”

Filip Salac, 2^nd – 1’59.574

With local fans showing up in their tens of thousands from early on Friday morning, Filip saw no sense in take unnecessary risks in the treacherous FP1 conditions. After 15 laps, he sat 28^th.

But as soon as he was on dry track, Filip showcased his potential. The 23-year old was immediately under the previous lap record, and set the 2^nd fastest time of the day, 0.5s back of 1^st.

Filip was one of only a few riders to go back on track at the close of Practice to get further experience in wet conditions before the red flags came out.

“A wet day here in Brno! It was good. I enjoyed my first day riding at home. In the morning session I tried to calm down because the conditions weren’t perfect and I know on Saturday it looks like it will be dry. So, I didn’t try too much. In Practice we were able to do a few laps in the dry before the rain storm came again. I could do my best in that time, which was good enough for second position. I’m happy with that. I want to say thanks to everyone for being here today, and to all the fans. It’s a massive plus for me seeing so many fans here on a Friday, even when the weather is like this. I’m enjoying every second and every lap of this home GP so far and I can’t wait for tomorrow.”