The British star is 0.4s clear of Fernandez after a scintillating FP3 at Silverstone
Home hero Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team) heads into Monster Energy British Grand Prix qualifying with a healthy advantage over second place Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) after slamming down a 2:04.107 in FP3. Fernandez is 0.401s adrift of Dixon as Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) closes out the top three, 0.529s away from top spot.
Dixon dominant so far on home turf
Making use of the grippy rubber put down by the MotoGP™ riders, plenty of improvements were made in the first part of FP3. Dixon cut Fernandez’s gap to 0.030s as Ogura climbed up to P3 to sit a couple of tenths shy, before the Japanese title contender crashed unhurt at Turn 15.
With three minutes to go, Dixon turned up the wick at went fastest by a couple of tenths. On his next lap, the Briton moved the goalposts further to sit 0.466s clear of Fernandez, as the latter improved on his final flying effort – but not by much.
Ogura ends Free Practice in fourth place ahead of Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team), with Alonso Lopez (CAG Speed Up) impressing again in P6. Albert Arenas (GASGAS Aspar Team) is safely into Q2 in P7, as are Cameron Beaubier (American Racing), his compatriot Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) and Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), who will face a Long Lap penalty in Sunday’s race after failing to follow the correct practice start procedure in FP2.
Turn 12 caught out Fermin Aldeguer (CAG Speed Up), Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) and Sean Dylan Kelly (American Racing) in FP3, while Jorge Navarro (Flexbox HP40) headed to the medical centre after a crash at Turn 13.
Tune into Moto2™ qualifying at 15:10 local time (GMT+1) to see if anyone can stop Dixon from securing a dream home Grand Prix pole position.
Top 10 combined:
1. Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team) – 2:04.107
2. Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.401
3. Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) + 0.529
4. Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 0.712
5. Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) + 0.721
6. Alonso Lopez (CAG Speed Up) + 0.737
7. Albert Arenas (GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.780
8. Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) + 0.804
9. Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) + 0.821
10. Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.859