Was this the turning point? Honda rider Jake Dixon believes seventh-place finishes are possible

At the end of the ninth round of the 2026 Superbike World Championship, the Honda Racing Corporation works team could only manage an eleventh-place finish as its best result, overall, the factory riders Jake Dixon and Somkiat Chantra appeared more competitive than ever before at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. This is because no Honda rider finished last in any race, and the lap times – particularly those of the Englishman – were on a par with those of other factory riders, apart from the Ducati riders.

To put this into perspective: in the Superpole Race, Dixon (14th) was 16.557 seconds behind the winner, Nicolò Bulega (Ducati). Axel Bassani (11th/Bimota) lost 15.344 seconds, Miguel Oliveira (12th/BMW) lost 16.000 seconds, and Garrett Gerloff (13th/Kawasaki) 16.133 seconds. Converted to a single lap, we’re talking about less than 0.1 seconds – that’s manageable.

Willkommen zum Rennen in Magny-Cours

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Nicolò Bulega

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Axel Bassani

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Boxengasse

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Garrett Gerloff

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Fans

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Xavier Vierge

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Sam Lowes

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Iker Lecuona

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Álvaro Bautista

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Start des Rennens

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Lorenzo Baldassarri

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Axel Bassani

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Sam Lowes

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Nicolò Bulega

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Iker Lecuona

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Yari Montella

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Nicolò Bulega gewinnt beide Läufe in Frankreich

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Bulega und Lecuona

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Podium Lauf 1 - Iker Lecuona, Nicolò Bulega, Sam Lowes

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Podium Lauf 2 - Iker Lecuona, Nicolò Bulega, Yari Montella

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Sieger Nicolò Bulega

Foto: Gold & Goose

Willkommen zum Rennen in Magny-Cours

© Gold & Goose

A sour note for Dixon: on Sunday, better results than 14th place – and avoiding a crash – were possible! “We’ve definitely taken a step forward. Of course, it’s a shame that I made two mistakes today, and I apologise to the team for that,” the 30-year-old lamented. “The Superpole Race was really frustrating, because seventh place was within reach, and the second race would probably have gone the same way. I was waiting for the right moment.”

However, Dixon missed that moment through no fault of his own. “When Bautista overtook me, I was pushed wide, so I lost a few places, but I regained my composure, made up some ground and had just caught up with the group again. Unfortunately, I started to slide a bit too much in Turn 13, and when the tyre regained grip, it pushed me forward and I had no chance of salvaging the situation. These things happen, but my attitude is that I’ll always push to the limit whilst we try to take the next step.”

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Due to his protracted hand injury (a crash during the Phillip Island test), Magny-Cours was only Dixon’s third race weekend of the year, although he had to sit out race day at Aragon due to pain. Bearing this in mind, his progress has been remarkable. “I think our potential this weekend was somewhere between seventh and tenth place,” the Honda rider is convinced. “I believe we finished eleventh in the first race and fourteenth in the Superpole race, but that result didn’t really reflect where we are. We were definitely in the top 10 throughout the weekend. Step by step, we’re making good progress. We still need to make a lot more progress, but we’re getting closer.”