Moto2: 'Something needs to be done' - Dixon
Jake Dixon made the most of damp conditions in qualifying at Brno to claim a career-best ninth on the Moto2 grid.
But a dry race meant he couldn’t overcome continued grip and straight-line performance issues with his Angel Nieto KTM, plus vibrations that were so bad he started to get pins and needles.
In the points once so far this season, courtesy of twelfth place at Assen, the BSB title runner-up could only finish 18th on Sunday.
"I got a really good start but then just kept getting passed in a straight line," Dixon said, describing it as a combination of "no rear grip all weekend" plus the "horrendous vibration".
"I even had no rear grip in the wet," explained the 23-year-old. "I’ve been reasonably fast, second KTM in some free practices, [but] I’m fast for one lap and then I have no grip.
"Something they’re doing is not right, and it’s translating over from wet to dry. I’m not happy, to be fair. It’s the same thing I keep talking about. Nothing’s improving.
"Then also in a straight line, I had horrendous vibration from the bike. So I don’t know what that was being caused by. They can’t see anything on the data. I said to them, 'it’s that bad I’m starting to get pins and needles'.
"Something needs to be done. We need to sit down between here and Austria. I’m not happy. It’s unacceptable, really."
Slipstream plays a part, but Dixon was slowest in terms of average top speed with the 765cc Triumph Moto2 engine during the race (best five speeds for each rider) and fourth slowest in terms of top speed over the weekend.
"I really don’t know," Dixon said of his top speed. "The bike off the corners is just dead flat. I’ve almost got one-to-one with the throttle. Everyone else has got softer."
But it all comes back to finding grip.
"[Qualifying] could have been even better if I had rear grip. It’s what nobody sees and nobody understands, unless you’re in here listening to every session," Dixon said.
"It’s frustrating. I just wish I could almost showcase what I can actually do and hopefully one day if I keep chipping away it will allow me to."
Dixon added that he is in the dark for 2020, amid rumours there could be a reduction in KTM numbers.
"I’ve got obviously a two-year deal here, but I don’t know what’s going on. If they want to keep me, if they don’t want to keep me. KTM if they’re going… I don’t know."
Dixon's team-mate Xavi Cardelus finished 25th and last at Brno, and is yet to score a point this season.
The top KTM rider on Sunday was Iker Lecuona in tenth. The new KTM Moto2 bike, currently only available to the factory Ajo team, finished 13th in the hands of rookie Jorge Martin.
