Jake Dixon has been back on track testing ahead of the resumption of the World Superbike Championship in a weeks’ time.

He and the Honda World Superbike were on track at Estoril circuit in Portugal and despite some inclement weather making testing tricky, he managed to gain some valuable data.

Rain on Tuesday morning left the track partially wet and delayed the scheduled start, though Dixon headed out for a few exploratory laps as conditions gradually improved, so he could get his first taste of a circuit he has yet to race on.

Dixon continued to put in the work on Wednesday, despite further rain affecting the morning’s session. The wet conditions nevertheless provided him with a useful opportunity to gain more experience in fully wet conditions.

As the track gradually dried during the afternoon, he was able to resume his scheduled test programmes, continuing to work on different setup solutions and making further progress with the bike. Putting in a total of 134 laps respectively over the two days, Jake made the most of the available track time despite the changeable conditions.

Speaking after the test session, Dixon said: “On day one, damp conditions following early morning rain were not ideal, and I only made one run, to learn the track. I tend to learn tracks quickly, and I actually really like it here, so we were able to start testing pretty much straight away in the afternoon once the track fully dried. Considering how many things we tried, I’m satisfied with how the day went, even if there was still one area where we weren’t completely happy. We planned to focus on that straight away today, but conditions this morning were fully wet.

“I haven’t had much chance to ride in wet conditions, so we took the chance to complete several runs anyway. In the afternoon the track dried again, but generally I think the conditions were a little bit worse today in terms of grip. We put in the work though and got through a lot of items. In the end, I feel a little bit more positive with the feeling from the front of the bike. We made some slight improvements with the rear but still need to go a little bit further with that. In general, not bad.

“One thing I’ve come to realise since joining a factory team is that you play a different role when testing. It’s not just about doing laps and going for a fast lap time; it’s about understanding whether something is better or worse. That’s something I’ve never really done before and I’ve had to get my head around it, but I feel like I’ve really embraced that role, particularly here and also at the last test. I think that will stand us in good stead for the end of this year and next year.”