"I did everything identical" - Dixon on Mandalika crash

Jake Dixon’s (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) start to the 2022 Moto2™ campaign has been a blend of promise and frustration. The British star has shown fantastic pace in both Qatar and Mandalika, marked by a maiden pole position in the class, but it could have been so much more.

2022 is Dixon’s fourth year in the intermediate class. And a move back to the Aspar Team, for which he first rode in his 2019 rookie season, is like a return home for the 26-year-old. Two years in the Petronas SRT ranks brought glimpses of what Dixon is capable of, but it was also heavily blighted by a severe wrist injury sustained at the end of the 2020 season.

In Qatar, after demonstrating some serious speed in pre-season testing, Dixon was consistently boxing at the business end of the timesheets. Two crashes hampered his weekend slightly in Lusail, but P7 on the grid was a solid enough start to the campaign. A good launch from Row 3 can propel you into a podium charge. However, Dixon was caught up in a Lap 1, Turn 1 incident that saw Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Fermin Aldeguer (MB Conveyors Speed Up) also run wide. In the end, coming back from P20 to finish P11 was as good a job Dixon could have done.

Then, Mandalika reared its head. Day 1’s combined timesheets saw Dixon sit 0.4s clear of anyone else. On Saturday afternoon, a long-awaited first Moto2™ pole position was then pocketed. The only two riders to get within 0.4s of Dixon’s time were a couple of pre-season title favourites – Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and compatriot Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team).

“Honestly it’s so good. It’s just, yeah, I know it’s only pole but it’s the first step in going to the next step, you know? I feel like I’ve finally been given the package from the team, my team have been amazing all year,” said Dixon in parc ferme, post-qualifying.

“From the first moment I got on the bike in November, I’ve felt such a transformation. Honestly, honestly, I’m not riding any different and I’ve not just grown talent. I’ve been faster in all of the pre-season and in the first two races, so it’s not just one race. Now people are finally seeing what all my family and friends know I can do. So yeah, it’s nice.”

It may have been “only pole”, as Dixon puts it, but a Moto2™ pole position is something big you can work from. Dixon’s right – he’s been fast in pre-season and the first two races, and he looked especially comfortable in Mandalika, so there was a real feeling that an illustrious first victory – or at least a podium – was incoming.

“I had a tricky start, and caught up to Sam [Lowes], and then passed him. Then I re-focused to try and chase down [Somkiat] Chantra. I felt I had the pace to do that,” stated Dixon, who had carved past his countryman before tipping it into the tight Turn 10 right-hander.

“When I got to turn 10, I braked in the same place I did every lap – even on the data I did everything identical to the lap before, but for some reason I lost the front. I’m incredibly annoyed at myself – I want to say sorry first of all to the team, they gave me the bike to win the race today and I wasn't able to back that up!”

It was a disheartening way to end such a hopeful weekend for the 2018 British Superbike Championship runner-up. Especially when there was no obvious error to cause the small, race-ending tip-off. However, there can only be positives taken from the Grand Prix of Indonesia – Dixon had the pace to win.

The combination of a bike, rider, and team singing from the same hymn sheet is a fast combination. Dixon and many more will be hoping that maiden podium is waiting just around the corner. It looks like that’s certainly the case.