Dixon: Everything happened so fast! Then I started to really enjoy it
Jake Dixon admitted everything was happening a little too fast during his first ever MotoGP laps on Friday at the British Grand Prix.
But his brain soon got up to speed and Dixon had put the 2019-spec Petronas Yamaha within three-seconds of Marc Marquez after just 17 laps in the premier-class, around the longest circuit on the calendar.
The 25-year-old, who usually races for Petronas in Moto2, has been dropped into the MotoGP deep-end after a chain reaction of rider moves following Maverick Vinales' sudden exit from the Factory Yamaha team.
Dixon went on to complete an encouraging opening day by cutting 1.3s off his lap time during the afternoon session. And while the gap to new fastest man and good friend Fabio Quartararo grew to 3.3s, it was compensated for by the world championship leader pulling 0.5s clear of the field.
"Everything was happening so fast at first," said Dixon, ranked 21st in both sessions, ahead of only the injured Lorenzo Savadori. "I couldn’t even adjust the front brake lever until everything slowed down a bit! But after 2-3 laps I started to really enjoy it.
"I got passed by some very fast riders on the first few laps, one being Marc Marquez. He passed me then I think he made a slight mistake and he actually rolled the lap, looked behind and just helped me for the rest of the lap.
"So it was nice for that, but there was nothing I would say that was 'oh my god how do they do that?' I just thought to myself it's just a matter of time and understanding the bike and tyres.
"But that's normal when it's such a big lap and you can only do 30 laps in a day compared with 100 laps at a one-day test. So I think for day one to be this close is not so bad, after 30 laps."
As well as a Moto2 machine, Dixon has also previously raced a British Superbike around Silverstone. But there's nothing like a MotoGP prototype.
"It's completely different you know. The whole bike, how it handles, how rigid it is, if you make a slight input it makes the biggest of differences. But the good thing for me is I'm on an incredible package, being a Yamaha, and the bike is really well set-up," he said.
"There's a few things that hopefully I can improve in myself tomorrow but also if we can make some slight adjustments in the way the bike handles for me I think we'll make another big step.
"But the biggest difference will be me and I think on a night's sleep it will always be good to come out swinging tomorrow. Because generally whenever you sleep on something for the first time and you get back onto it, you tend to find it's a lot easier the next day.
"I think it's a matter of the more days you do the faster you get. I think after 5-6 days of full riding you could really have an understanding of what the bike is like."
Dixon's debut comes in the middle of a disappointing Moto2 campaign and with his 2022 future, like that of the team, still unclear.
The withdraw of Petronas and Sepang will see the current SRT squad – present in all three classes - close at the end of the year. Only the premier-class project will be revived, under a new identity, next season.
No riders for the new satellite Yamaha project, again run by Razlan Razali and Johan Stigefelt, have yet been announced but Petronas Moto3 rider Darryn Binder and former MotoGP title runner-up Andrea Dovizioso are the current favourites.
Indeed, after Dixon's appearance at Silverstone and then Moto2 team-mate Xavi Vierge at Aragon, Dovi is tipped to finish this season with the Malaysian team ahead of a full 2022 campaign.
"From all I know this is purely and simply a 'wild-card' ride, and look, the team have a lot of experience and they wouldn't just judge me over one weekend because it wouldn't be fair," Dixon said.
"I feel that I can adapt quite fast. I don't know if it's going to put me in a good position for the future or not, but I'm not too focussed on that. Frankie [Carchedi, manager] deals with the rest of that. I'm here to do the best job I can possibly do and that's all I can do really.
"I think given enough time I would be able to run in the front pack of MotoGP, but like anything it takes a lot of time."
Regular Petronas rider Valentino Rossi, on the 2021 factory spec bike, was tenth fastest and 2.3s ahead of Dixon on Friday.
