FIRST LOOK: Jake Dixon makes Honda HRC WorldSBK debut

Jake Dixon and Somkiat Chantra have both been able to have their first chances to ride the WorldSBK Honda Fireblade at a test in Jerez.

The two-day Jerez test is the second WorldSBK test at the southern Spanish circuit since the end of the 2025 World Superbike season, after the post-race test there in October.

Neither Jake Dixon nor Somkiat Chantra were able to ride there, though, as they were in the middle of MotoGP’s Asian tour, Chantra riding for LCR Honda and Dixon coming towards the end of his final Moto2 season with Marc VDS, a concluding chapter that would see him victorious at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

As a result, this week’s two-day test (26–27 November) is the first chance for both of them to sample Honda’s WorldSBK-spec CBR1000RR-R, as they come into the factory HRC team to replace Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona, who move to Yamaha and Ducati, respectively, for 2026.

At time of writing, Dixon is 1.9 seconds faster than Chantra on a 1:40.520, Chantra currently trading on a 1:42.455.

Dixon’s best time currently has him fourth-fastest, although it had him top of the times for a while before improvements from Michael van der Mark, Andrea Locatelli, and Xavi Vierge, the Dutchman having dropped into the 1:39s.

For reference, Nicolo Bulega’s pole position time in the Spanish Round in October was a 1:36.629, and his best time in the long races was a 1:38.693 set in Race 2.