Jake Dixon was back in the points in Portugal at the penultimate round of the World Superbike Championship.
It was another good round for Dixon, with three points finishes across the weekend. He took tenth place in the opening race of the weekend in Estoril, before following that up on Sunday with an eighth place finish in the Super Pole race and then another tenth in race two.
Sunday began with a short warm-up session, held in cooler conditions than the previous day, with partly cloudy skies and a dry track. The Honda HRC riders then lined up for the ten-lap Superpole Race, Dixon starting seventh and Chantra seventeenth.
Dixon made a solid start and maintained a position within the leading group during the opening stages. Running eighth for much of the race, the British rider delivered a consistent performance aboard his CBR1000RR-R FIREBLADE SP, crossing the line in eighth place to secure two championship points and a third row starting position for Race 2.
The final race of the Estoril weekend got underway at 3.30pm local time, with the track dry despite a brief rain shower earlier in the afternoon. Dixon made a positive start from eighth on the grid, maintaining his position for the first two laps before losing several places and dropping to twelfth.
Rather than losing touch with the riders ahead, Dixon continued to push and remained within reach of the closely packed group in front of him. As the race progressed, he was able to take advantage of opportunities to recover ground and move back into the top ten. Despite coming under pressure from Tommy Bridewell in the closing stages, Dixon defended his position to the chequered flag, securing tenth place and six more championship points.
Speaking after the weekend, Dixon said: “Today’s Superpole Race was good enough, at least to keep the third row start later, but I knew Race 2 was going to be difficult. After an adequate start I lost a few places but was able to stick with the guys ahead for a while.
“With about eight laps to go, the front tyre was already finished, and I started losing ground to the group ahead. I think I lost around three and a half seconds over four or five laps, and towards the end I also made a big mistake at turn seven, almost running off track because I couldn’t stop the bike properly.
“We are getting the maximum out of our current package, but we still have a lot of work to do. I don’t want to be finishing in these positions, because that’s not what I came here for. Hopefully, between now and Jerez, we can find some solutions and take another step forward.”