Jake Dixon just finished off the podium at the weekend French GP.

Dover's Moto2 racer Dixon was involved in a close five-ride fight for third, eventually coming fifth.

Launching from ninth on the grid, the 29-year-old made a strong start and sat seventh towards the close of a hectic lap one in front of a record attendance at the Le Mans Circuit.

Overall, 120,403 people were present on race day with a total of 311,797 spectators attending the French Grand Prix over four days.

After he dropped back to sixth on lap 16, Dixon overtook Spain’s Albert Arenas two laps from the flag and just ran out of time to try passes on Aron Canet and Diogo Moreira, who were ahead of him.

He reflected: “It was a good, solid, race in the end.

“Coming into it, I was hoping for a little better. We got a good start and were right in the mix early on.

“The leaders were there but, ultimately, I just couldn’t run that pace. A few riders came past me and I was saving something for a late push. I was able to recover one place, but just didn’t have enough to get onto the podium.

“It’s a bit frustrating. But we scored important points and it was another decent finish. I didn’t leave anything out there on track and that was all we had this weekend.

“I just want to say a massive thanks to the team. They worked their socks off all weekend long.

“We’ll have a few days of break and I’m really excited to go to my home Grand Prix now.”

It means Marc Elf VDS Racing’s Dixon sits third in the World Championship with 77 points and will now prepare to return to action at Silverstone from Friday, May 23.