The curtain might have only comedown on the 2025 motorsport season, but Jake Dixon has already been out testing ahead of his debut in the 2026 World Superbike Championship.

For Dixon it means that he was able to get to grips with a new team, a new bike, different electronics and set-up early as he makes the move to Honda as one of the factory riders in 2026.

He was out on track with Somkiat Chantra at the Circuit de Jerez in Spain last week, completing over a hundred laps across the two test days as he got used to his new crew chief Tom Jojic and how the HRC team work. He will be back on track over the 21 and 22 January as he and the team look to ramp up the pre-season testing after Christmas.

Speaking after the test session, Dixon said: “It has been a really good first test for me as a Honda HRC rider. It feels great to be back on a big bike again and having that power is really nice, but it’s also a massive learning curve. I had a couple of crashes while trying to understand everything and figure out exactly how things work, which sometimes just happens. Even so, I couldn’t be happier with the team – they are fantastic, incredibly professional, and it’s the first time I’ve had so many people working around me, which is really nice. I’m just going to need some time to adapt.

“This bike demands respect, and I’m learning every minute because if you don’t respect her, she bites. Still, it has been a great two days: I completed a lot of laps, including long runs, and we worked a lot with the hardest tyre. I didn’t try a qualifying tyre; we stuck with the hard option, and that’s how we ended the test. Coming from Moto2, adapting to a WorldSBK machine is honestly crazy different, especially with how much you can change on the electronics compared to what we have in Moto2.

“I need more time to learn how to extract that one fast lap, but in terms of rhythm I’m not too bad. I’m looking forward to continuing this journey and progressing as a World Superbike rider.”

Images courtesy of Honda World Superbikes