'I'd love another go' - Dixon 'frustrated' at '50%' race pace

Jake Dixon couldn't conceal his disappointment after a frustrating end to what had otherwise been a promising MotoGP debut, in front of his home fans, at Silverstone.

Given the chance to ride the injured Franco Morbidelli's 2019-spec Petronas Yamaha in the aftermath of a reshuffle caused by Maverick Vinales' factory team exit, Dixon hadn’t done a single MotoGP lap before the British Grand Prix weekend.

It could have gone horribly wrong, but the 25-year-old - just 19th for Petronas in the Moto2 standings - underlined his big bike credentials with consistent progress over the three days.

That culminated in Dixon being +1.6s from the top during morning warm-up, when he finished ahead of Enea Bastianini (Avintia Ducati) and just 0.146s slower than Petronas team-mate Valentino Rossi on the 2021 factory-spec bike.

"In morning warm-up I was going really good. To be 1.6s off but also only a tenth off Valentino and my pace was quite similar to him if not better. So I was quite positive for the race," Dixon said.

But the Englishman's hopes of battling with some of the MotoGP regulars were dashed by major grip issues.

"Really annoyed!" said Dixon. "I felt like after morning warm-up I had really good pace to be able to go with the group off the back of the [main] pack. But unfortunately the bike and the grip levels definitely did not feel the same and it was a lot more unrideable in the race.

"It felt like I was riding two different bikes and it's just very, very frustrating to finish that way after such a positive weekend. That's for me the most annoying thing."

While Dixon wouldn't say the words 'tyre' or 'Michelin', the obvious explanation was that he had joined several other riders – including Rossi – in suffering a big drop in tyre performance.

"Nothing for us had changed," confirmed Dixon, who crossed the finish line 19th and last. "I'll leave it to you guys to say what you want to say with it, but it's pretty obvious what it is…"

Regardless, Dixon's race time still compared favourably with previous Petronas Yamaha stand-in Garrett Gerloff. The American finished +53s behind at Assen, while Dixon was +51s on Sunday.

WorldSBK rider Gerloff, who had similar lack of experience to Dixon with only a few more MotoGP practice sessions under his belt from a previous stand-in, also managed a best lap of +1.6s during the Assen warm-up. However, Silverstone is 30sec longer than Assen.

The big question now is whether, despite initially billed as a 'one-off' chance, Dixon will remain on the bike for Aragon. Moto2 team-mate Xavi Vierge was previousy tipped to get the chance.

"I have no idea. Honestly, it's too early to even say," commented Dixon. "As you saw last time it was late to even know that I was doing this. At the minute I'm just more annoyed from the whole situation of the race, rather than focussing on the next GP.

"I learned so much and the team have been incredible. Ramon, Andy, all the Yamaha technicians, my mechanics," he added. "I can't just leave that undone business. I feel like I rode around at 50%, because that was all I was capable of doing today.

"So I would love to have another go on the bike and I would love it to lead to something more. But who knows and let's just wait and see… I adapted pretty well and I find I'm far better suited to a big bike and would like my future to be on a big bike."

Rossi said of Dixon's weekend: "I think he did a good job because yesterday he made a 2m 0.8s, which is already a good lap time.

"He's good on the bike, he already rides well, and for sure to ride the M1 is a dream for a Moto2 rider. I think he used this chance in a positive way."

Cal Crutchlow will remain alongside Fabio Quartararo for Aragon, with Morbidelli expected to move from Petronas to the Monster team for his comeback at Misano, when Andrea Dovizioso is set to join SRT ahead of a full 2022 campaign.

The identity of Dovizioso's future team-mate currently looks to be a choice between Petronas Moto3 rider Darryn Binder and Dixon, with Gerloff and Toprak Razgatlioglu remaining in WorldSBK.