DIXON BELIEVES HE CAN RACE AT THE FRONT IN MOTOGP

Jake Dixon left Qatar convinced he could compete near the front of MotoGP if given enough time on a premier-class bike. The Honda Racing Corporation World Superbike rider was drafted in to replace the ill Joan Mir at Lusail, despite never having ridden the Honda MotoGP machine before. With just 74 laps across the weekend, he had little time to adapt to its power, aerodynamics, ride-height system, brakes and Michelin tyres.

Dixon nevertheless showed flashes of speed. He qualified ahead of Maverick Viñales, riding for Red Bull KTM Tech3, and at points in both races ran at a similar pace to his rivals. Mistakes and his lack of experience with the tyres ultimately left him last at the finish on both occasions.

“I proved that I can put in a good lap time,” Dixon said. He was about 1.6 seconds off pole, though the front of the field had set a new record; compared with the previous record, his deficit was roughly 1.1 seconds. He was pleased with those gains, but added that his competitive instinct wanted more.

Former MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow was on hand in Qatar to offer advice, along with some criticism and encouragement. Dixon said Crutchlow’s teasing did not stop him from taking the Briton’s words seriously. Crutchlow told him that none of the MotoGP riders present would have managed the same performance if they had jumped onto Dixon’s Superbike. Dixon said the comparison helped him put his weekend into perspective, noting that Crutchlow had ridden the Honda himself that year.

The experience felt especially precious because Dixon did not know whether he would get another chance. “On the warm-up lap for the Grand Prix, I thought this might be my last time, so I was going to enjoy the moment,” he recalled. He said the weekend had shown him, “deep down” and with complete conviction, that he could run near the front if he had time to learn the bike. “What a fantastic weekend—it went by far too quickly,” he said.

Qatar was only Dixon’s third MotoGP weekend. In 2021, he had stood in for injured Franco Morbidelli at Silverstone and Aragón with the Petronas SRT Yamaha team, but said he could barely remember those appearances and could not make a meaningful comparison between the Yamaha and Honda.

Now a seven-time Moto2 Grand Prix winner, Dixon believes his strongest years may still be ahead. He said he is more experienced, mature and older than during his earlier MotoGP outings, and is only now beginning to feel close to his peak. Having started road racing at around 14, later than riders who begin as young children, he believes his development has followed a different timeline. “I feel like I’m only just getting going,” he said, adding that he is riding very well.