Michelin as an opportunity for Honda: Jake Dixon aims for the podium in 2027!

Michelin offers hope: Jake Dixon has set an ambitious target for Honda for the 2027 Superbike World Championship. After a difficult few months, the Briton sees progress – including in himself.

Sebastian Fränzschky

WorldSBK

08.10.2026 - 09:09

This article is an automatically generated English version. The Original Article was published in German.

Jake Dixon setzt sich und HRC ehrgeizige Ziele
© Gold & Goose

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Since returning to the Superbike World Championship as a factory team in 2020, Honda has been waiting for the breakthrough it had hoped for. Nevertheless, works rider Jake Dixon has set out a clear expectation for 2027: from the very first race weekend, the Fireblade should be a bike with which he can fight for podium places.

Judging by how the season has gone so far, that’s a bold claim. At the start of the year, the project hit a new low. The two new signings, Dixon and Somkiat Chantra, were injured, and stand-in riders had to step in. At the halfway point of the season, the team had scored just 14 points in the manufacturers’ championship. Honda lay adrift in last place.

Strong upward trend in Cremona

Recently, however, there has been progress. In Cremona alone, Honda scored 18 manufacturers’ points. Dixon finished in the top six, whilst Chantra also showed that he is getting to grips with the CBR1000RR-R increasingly well. Speaking to SPEEDWEEK.com, Dixon explained why the project has now found a clearer direction.

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“At the start of the season, I was injured and so was Chantra. Various stand-in riders were brought in. That’s why the project quickly went off course. It would have been different with the regular riders,” he is convinced. “Now we’re managing to get the most out of the package. We’ve carried out various tests and found a good way forward in terms of development.”

Jake Dixon auf der Werks-Fireblade
© Gold & Goose

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However, the Briton does not attribute the upward trend solely to technical progress. After his move from the Moto2 World Championship, he too had to learn how to use the Fireblade and its electronics properly. “But I must also point out that I’m riding the bike better now. I’m now fully fit and understand the electronics much better. That’s why I can get more out of it. That’s a big factor. So it’s a mix of the team’s efforts, but also something that comes from me. I can’t put all the blame on the team. They’re doing a really good job.”

Michelin tyres work better with the Honda Fireblade

Honda is focusing on continuity for 2027: Dixon and Chantra are staying with the works team. At the same time, the switch from Pirelli to Michelin is changing a fundamental aspect of the championship. This could present an opportunity for Honda, as the characteristics of the new tyres seem to suit the Fireblade. Dixon has already gained some initial experience during a test in Cremona. There wasn’t quite enough time to form a definitive judgement, but he was nevertheless able to identify a general trend.

HRC mit Jonathan Rea holte den Suzuka-Sieg
© Bridgestone

“We spent half a day in Cremona. It’s difficult to get a proper grasp of the situation. What is clear, however, is that the Michelin tyre behaves quite differently. The tyre’s carcass is much stiffer than that of the Pirelli. The new tyre works well with our motorbike. It prefers stiffer casings – you can see that when you fit Bridgestone tyres. Our motorbike prefers these tyres to the Pirelli ones. But we still have a lot of work ahead of us if we want to compete with the Ducatis.”

Honda’s repeated victories at the Suzuka 8-Hour race provide further fuel for this hope. There, the Fireblade runs on Bridgestone tyres. In Dixon’s view, their stiffer carcass suits the motorbike better – a characteristic he has also noticed with Michelin.

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