Dover’s Jake Dixon rued a lack of pace after a 12th-placed finish at MotoGP’s Moto2 race in Italy.

Aspar Team racer Dixon arrived at Mugello in high spirits after his first podium of an incident-packed season so far in Catalunya last time out. However the weekend started badly, with a 25th-placed finish in practice.

Dixon moved up the order to claim 15th in qualifying and despite being behind team-mate Izan Guevara (13th) was in a positive mood ahead of Sunday’s race.

“We have improved 10 positions,” he said. “I feel more comfortable with the bike, although qualifying has been a bit strange. I have needed a reference to understand where I could improve.

“I have had a lot of vibrations with the first set of tyres, but I have got my best lap with them. In the second run, I have not been able to complete a clean lap and I think I could have improved two tenths.”

But while Guevara went on to claim his best result of the year in eighth, a disastrous start for Dixon saw him drop to 21st before recovering to finish just outside the top 10.

He sits 15th in the standings on 20 points while race winner Joe Roberts is second, seven points behind Spain’s Javier Garcia.

The team could, though, take solace after a double points finish for the first time this year, and return to action at the Dutch Grand Prix on June 28-30.

“We have not been fast enough throughout the weekend,” Dixon admitted. “We have three weeks to rest, to see what we can improve and come back stronger in Assen."