MotorLand Aragón
Friday at Aragón brings progress for Dixon and Chantra
Jake Dixon and Somkiat Chantra were together in the garage for the first time this racing season as the sixth WorldSBK round kicked off today at MotorLand Aragón in Spain. On track for free practice, the Honda HRC experienced one of its most constructive Fridays to date.
Dixon and Chantra headed out for the first free practice session on an already hot track, with their respective technicians having set out quite different plans for the day. Chantra immediately focused on the setup of his CBR1000RR-R, building on work completed during the recent Misano test. For Dixon, the priority was to put in some laps and gain strength and experience with the bike.
Jake’s second run of the morning brought an early crash and although the rider was unhurt, he and his team opted not to return immediately to the track. Having completed just four laps until that moment, he concluded FP1 in seventeenth place with a best time of 1'50.486. Passed fit to continue following a scheduled post-FP1 medical check, Dixon began to prepare for the afternoon session.
On the other side of the garage, Chantra continued to make the most of the available track time, consistently improving throughout the session and setting a best lap of 1'50.355 to place fourteenth.
FP2 got underway as scheduled mid-afternoon, in significantly hotter conditions (track 53°C, air 35°C). Chantra evaluated a number of setup adjustments made together with the team and found some positives, but the extreme temperatures made fast lap times difficult to achieve, the Thai rookie not quite able to improve on his earlier FP1 reference. As Friday drew to a close, Chantra was lying fourteenth in the combined standings thanks to his FP1 time.
With his bike quickly repaired by the crew, Dixon was able to begin FP2 in earnest and became the first rider, and one of only two, to improve, albeit only slightly, on his FP1 lap time in the challenging conditions. The Briton completed just two runs, making careful but steady progress throughout the first and longest of the two, and notably setting his fastest lap on the tenth and final lap of that stint. He then headed back out for a second run with five minutes remaining, but yellow flags caused by crashes involving three other riders resulted in the cancellation of all lap times set during the closing stages of the session. Dixon concluded FP2 in twelfth place with a best of 1'50.482, and seventeenth in the combined standings.
The Honda HRC team will resume work on Saturday, when the riders will take part in a final practice session, Superpole and the first of the weekend's 18-lap races.
Somkiat Chantra 35 Honda HRC
"After the Misano test, we came here with a good base setting and today we continued to work from there. We saw some improvement in FP1 and then tried to make another step in FP2. The feeling was better, but the track was very hot this afternoon and it was difficult to improve the lap time. We learned some useful things today and tomorrow we will try to make another step in FP3 before Superpole and the races."
Jake Dixon 96 Honda HRC
"It is good to be simply back on the bike and taking part in a race weekend. The crash this morning was really nothing, just a small mistake after running slightly wide, but unfortunately it caused quite a lot of damage to the bike and meant we lost valuable track time. Looking at it afterwards, my first thought was: 'Small crash, massive damage... how am I going to explain this one to the boys in the garage?' Thankfully, the team is great and did an amazing job repairing everything and getting me back out for FP2, so a massive thank you to all the mechanics for their hard work. This afternoon was really my first proper opportunity to start making some laps. Although the small crash this morning left me a little sore in my left shoulder, and my wrist is what it is, we managed to complete a ten-lap run, which is the longest stint I've done since coming back. I'm still learning and I'm still not riding the bike how it should be ridden, but it was important for me to understand where I'm at, physically, and keep building confidence. Some laps were quicker, some were slower, but overall, it was a useful run. We've clearly got a lot of work to do with the bike and are still trying to understand what the best base setup is for me. As the races go on, we'll keep learning more about the bike and what I need from it. Whatever happens tomorrow, even if it's a difficult race, it won't take away from these first steps and the small positives we've seen today. We'll just keep working, step by step, and see where we're at."
