Jake Dixon faced a similar fate to his Petronas cohort, John McPhee, at the Sachsenring this afternoon, after strong early potential was denied due to a mid-race tangle.

A great start to the German Grand Prix saw Dixon promote himself to ninth in the opening laps, having lined up on the fifth row of the Saxony grid. His confidence improving as the race developed, the 25-year-old captured a further position on lap five before contact with Augusto Fernandez at the base of the waterfall two laps later left him running though the gravel.

Re-joining the race in 25th, six-seconds adrift of the field, Dixon made his best efforts to recover, however, issues following his off-track excursion prevented a return to previous form. Forcing the number-96 to settle for 21st as he met the chequered flag.

“I had a good first lap and it felt great to be back at the sharp end, running in eighth,” Dixon said from Germany this afternoon.

“As I was coming through the top of the waterfall I had a bit of a moment and as I dropped down the hill, when I was getting ready to brake, I felt a touch and realised that there was somebody there. Unfortunately I went into the gravel and Augusto [Fernandez] crashed – thankfully he’s okay.

“Unfortunately some of the stones ended up in my wheel and put it out of balance, so I couldn’t ride how I was before.

“Today’s result doesn’t match the hard work done and I’m so happy with how the team is working so I’m so thankful to the team for this weekend,” he concluded positively.

On Sunday evening Dixon was sanctioned by Race Direction for causing the crash with Fernandez. The Brit has been issued a long lap penalty for next weekend’s race at the Motul TT Assen. Petronas submitted an appeal, which was unsuccessful.