SBK: 87 laps and still in pain—how Jake Dixon's return with Honda went

At HRC there was great anticipation for the return of the British rider, injured during pre-season: an overall positive assessment after the test in Emilia-Romagna.

Honda is currently the worst manufacturer on the Superbike grid, and the two days of work in Misano Adriatico were crucial to try to make progress. Jake Dixon finally reappeared after being injured on the last day of testing at Phillip Island, and he hadn’t gotten back on his CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP since. On February 17, a heavy crash caused fractures to his left hand and wrist, as well as a dislocation of the left wrist. It took a long time to recover, but the worst is behind him and now he can better focus on his new WorldSBK experience.

The former Moto2 rider took a cautious approach during the test at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, following a program set with the HRC team that included short outings and recovery periods. The goal was to rebuild the feeling with the bike, not to chase lap times. On day 1 he completed 50 laps, while on day 2 he reached 37. As for the final timesheet, he finished eighteenth, 60 thousandths behind teammate Somkiat Chantra. Not bad, considering he hadn’t ridden the SBK bike for over three months.

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The British rider is happy to be back working with the team, but emphasized that healing isn’t complete yet: "The wrist is still sore and I could only do short sessions, but just being back on the bike was fantastic. I’m pleased with how things went; it was two positive days at Misano, even though I couldn’t complete many laps or long runs, because I still have to carefully manage my physical condition. Step by step, we’re trying to improve".

Dixon admits he may have gotten carried away by the excitement of returning and that the 50 laps on the first day were too many, given his physical condition needs monitoring: "During the sessions we did ice treatments and I worked constantly with my physiotherapist, which helped me a lot. Today I completed fewer laps than yesterday because I probably overdid it a bit on the first day, so the wrist is still quite sore and swollen, but we expected that. I’m just happy to be back racing".

The next round of the Superbike calendar will be at Aragon on the weekend of May 29–31. That will be his true debut in the championship, once he passes the usual medical check to determine if he’s fit to race: "We’ll go to Aragon - he adds - and we’ll see what we can do there. Realistically, I think it will take a little longer before I feel 100% on the bike again, but we’ll keep working little by little"

For the Honda HRC team, his return is very important, and it will be even more so as soon as Dixon reaches peak physical condition. In the Misano Adriatico test, work focused on various electronic and setup solutions. Jonathan Rea also tried a modified fairing. The commitment to improving the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP is there. We’ll see if performance and results are set to improve after a decidedly negative start to the 2026 season.