Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto
Dixon just misses the top ten in Jerez Race 1; P16 for Chantra
Honda HRC scores more points with Dixon, while Chantra is unable to carry his encouraging FP3 pace into Saturday's race.
Competing in the final Superbike World Championship round of the season at Jerez Circuit, Honda HRC rider Jake Dixon scored more championship points in Saturday's Race 1, finishing eleventh, while teammate Somkiat Chantra crossed the line in sixteenth place.
The day began with the third and final free practice session, held in cooler conditions than Friday. Both Honda HRC riders made significant improvements on their previous best lap times aboard their CBR1000RR-R FIREBLADE SP machines. Chantra made particularly encouraging progress, lowering his Friday benchmark by almost one second to record a 1’38.671 and place twelfth. Dixon also improved, setting a 1’38.776 to finish sixteenth, just over a tenth of a second behind his teammate.
The fifteen-minute Superpole qualifying session got underway at 11:15am local time. Both riders worked to improve their lap times, with Dixon ultimately recording a best lap of 1’38.209 to qualify twelfth and secure a fourth row start for Race 1. Chantra set a 1’38.606 but was unable to fully exploit his qualifying opportunity, eventually placing eighteenth and securing a sixth row start.
Race 1 got underway at 3:30pm local time in dry conditions. Starting from twelfth, Dixon maintained his position through the opening laps before moving into eleventh on lap seven following the retirement of a rider ahead. The British rider continued to push, keeping tenth-placed Axel Bassani in sight as the race progressed. In the closing stages, Dixon came under increasing pressure from Loris Baz, who progressively reduced the gap to the Honda HRC rider. Jake successfully defended his position all the way to the chequered flag, crossing the line eleventh and adding five championship points to his tally.
For Chantra, the race proved more difficult despite the encouraging pace shown during morning practice. Starting from eighteenth, the Thai rookie lost ground in the early stages, dropping as far back as twenty-first before gradually recovering positions. He continued to work his way up through the second half of the 20-lap race, eventually crossing the line in sixteenth place, less than half a second from the points zone.
Honda HRC will return to the track on Sunday for the final day of the 2026 WorldSBK season, with the ten-lap Superpole Race followed by the last full-length race of the championship.
Jake Dixon 96 Honda HRC
“Difficult: that’s probably the best way to describe today. I gave everything I had, both in qualifying and in the race, as I always do, but we're still not where we need to be. We managed to qualify on the fourth row, and I pushed as hard as I could in the race, even over the final laps, to hold on to eleventh place. But honestly, these are not the results we're here for. We know we need to do better, and there's really not much more to say. We'll keep giving everything we've got, and we'll see what we can achieve in the final races tomorrow.”
Somkiat Chantra 35 Honda HRC
“Today we had FP3, Superpole and Race 1. FP3 didn’t go too badly, and I had quite good feeling with the bike. Then in Superpole, as the track temperature increased, I started to lose rear grip quite early. I even considered following another rider to try and improve my lap time, but when I headed out, everyone was already on track, so I completed my laps alone. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a better qualifying position and started the race from eighteenth. In Race 1, I tried my best, but I struggled quite a lot with the front-end feeling. I didn't have the confidence to push harder because I felt I could lose the front, so it was difficult to improve my pace. Hopefully, we can fix this for tomorrow and see what we can achieve.”
