Jake Dixon: No pressure for the sixth Honda HRC MotoGP rider in 2026

Joan Mir, Luca Marini, Taka Nakagami, Aleix Espargaró, Somkiat Chantra – and now, as the sixth rider for the official Honda works team within three months – Jake Dixon. If you add the riders from the LCR customer team plus their veteran stand-in, Cal Crutchlow, no fewer than nine riders have ridden the Honda RC213V during the current season.

Joan Mir has recently emerged as the biggest personnel problem for the world’s largest manufacturer. The Mallorcan, who has a contract with Gresini Racing for 2027, has not been available to the Honda project since the Misano Grand Prix in September. Following Mir’s unsuccessful attempt at a comeback in the sweltering heat of Malaysia , team principal Alberto Puig was forced to start his search all over again.

Dixon extended his racing season with a strong SBK finale

Instead of opting for Somkiat Chantra, who, as a former regular rider, has considerably more experience with the 300 PS prototype, Puig has now turned to his team-mate Jake Dixon. The Briton has also ridden a MotoGP bike in race conditions, but his two appearances for Yamaha date back to 2021.

Silverstone, 2021: Jake Dixon pilotierte die Kunden-Yamaha auf Rang 19

Foto: Gold and Goose

In Qatar, a brilliantly cheerful Jake Dixon explained how the deal came about. “As you know, my Superbike season wasn’t easy. At one point, my career was even on the line due to a wrist injury. But I managed to make a full recovery and, right at the very end, I was back and things were going really well – so well, in fact, that I was sorry the season was already over. I wanted more races, for myself and for Honda. When I got the news at the start of the week, I knew I’d have more races. It’s so lovely and perfect to end the season like this.”

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A win-win situation for the MotoGP and Superbike camps

Better still, says Dixon: “The crazy thing about this situation is – Alberto Puig and Crew Chief Santi Hernandez have taken all the pressure off me. It’s simply about riding, and in the best-case scenario, we’ll both learn something from it. Honestly – I get to ride one of the best bikes in the world here without any pressure; it doesn’t get any better than that.”

And just how ambitious is the rider from Dover? Dixon: “The truth is – the field is in full swing and is now contesting its third race weekend in a row. It would be completely presumptuous to imagine I could make a difference there.”

Nevertheless – at this exceptional GP in the desert, the chances of scoring World Championship points are anything but slim. Following the sensational withdrawal of the entire Yamaha project , only 18 riders will line up for the races. With Iker Lecuona, who is standing in for the recently operated-on Alex Márquez at Losail this time, Honda Superbike rider Dixon can now compete against my SBK colleagues on significantly more powerful machines.