Dixon and Vierge start the second GP in a row in Jerez

2020-07-28 08:57
It was a tough day for Jake Dixon and Xavi Vierge on the first day of the Andalucia Grand Prix, with both riders experiencing difficulties in the extreme heat. At the end of the day’s two practice sessions Dixon had the 15th fastest time, with Vierge 23rd.

Dixon had a good morning session aboard his Triumph-powered Kalex, consistently lapping just inside what will become the automatic Q2 zone. Having made significant changes to the bike from the last race and trying new set-ups, the Brit posted a fastest lap of 1min 42.042secs, which placed him 15th. As the heat rose in the afternoon and the track conditions evolved, Dixon struggled to find the speed he wanted around the 4.4km Jerez circuit. His fastest lap of 1min 43.157secs was only good enough for 22nd. Across the two sessions, Dixon finished the day 15th and will be looking to go directly into Q2 tomorrow for the second time in two weeks.

Vierge also made drastic changes to his bike, after the struggles of last weekend, but wasn’t able to find the pace in FP1. Although the times were tight across the board for the Moto2 category, the Spaniard ended the first session 24th with a time of 1min 42.613secs. Changes to the set-up improved Xavi’s feeling with the bike in FP2 and saw an improvement in single-lap pace to 1min 42.589secs, which saw him claim 14th in the session. There are still some areas to be improved ahead of tomorrow’s sessions, but Xavi finished the day 23rd in the combined times.

Free Practice 3 for the Moto2 pairing will begin at 10.55am local time (4.55pm MYT) tomorrow, before qualifying at 3.10pm local time (9.10pm MYT).






Jake Dixon
15th (1'42.042)





We started with nearly a completely different bike this morning! The bike felt quite good in FP1 and the pace was decent. However, in the afternoon we struggled with the hard tyre. It felt slightly better with the softer tyre, but I still didn’t have the feeling that I wanted in the hotter conditions. Hopefully we can improve for tomorrow because I’d like to make it directly into Q2 again. I think it’s possible as we’re 15th at the moment. We need to keep working as a team because there’s still a lot more to come, things that need to be improved but we’ll be trying everything we can to get through tomorrow. We’ll just have to see what the pace is like in the hotter conditions.

Source: SIC Racing Team

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