Dover’s Jake Dixon had a mixed weekend in the Motorpoint British Supersport Championship on his first trip to Assen.

The 18-year-old did well considering that this was his first trip to the circuit and to lead the opening stint of the race shows that he has talent. He went on to finish race one in sixth place and followed that up with a solid 11^th place in Sunday’s race.

It was always going to be difficult for Jake at the ultrafast GP circuit to keep with the speed of the front runners. Jake ended up qualifying in 11^th place for the opening sprint race on Saturday, just prior to the Superbike qualifying session the rain came.

Come the race half the track was wet and half was dry, Jake’s team opted for full wet tyres. He got an awesome start and led for the first two laps, he was passed on lap three by Seeley and was riding exceptionally well, the track began to dry and Jake struggled for grip, he slipped to sixth at the end of the 11 laps.

He was placed in 11^th place for race two on Sunday; he had a crash during morning warm up due to a much cooler track but thankfully Jake and his bike were ok. In the dry conditions, Jake was struggling for top end speed on his Yamaha and it was difficult for him to make ground on the riders in front of him. Despite his best efforts he ended up finishing in 11^th place at the end of the 12 laps.

Reflecting on his first trip to Assen, Jake said: “I knew this weekend would be tough for us as our bike doesn’t have the top end speed it needs to fight with the front runners. I was quite lucky on Saturday when it rained as it played into my favour; I got an awesome start and managed to lead the race for a bit whilst the track was fully wet.

“We’d chosen full wet tyres for the race and this helped me in the first stages of the race but as soon as it started to dry no matter how hard I pushed I was slipping backwards through the field. I was still really pleased to be up near the front for the majority of the race and happy to get sixth in the end.

“I knew in the dry on Sunday it would be a different story, even looking at the speed trap times it was always going to be tough for us to be anywhere near the front sadly. I crashed in morning warm up but it didn’t stop me putting in every effort in the race but it just wasn’t meant to be. Hopefully I can be back near the front and the two remaining rounds of the season.”

Pictures supplied by Johnny Wills.