A sit-down with WorldSBK’s Jake Dixon

Photo credits: Honda HRC WorldSBK

Once flying the Great British flag in Grand Prix racing, with seven seasons in Moto2 and seven wins to his name, Dover-born Jake Dixon made the switch to World Superbikes at the start of 2026.

What promised to be one of the bigger signings to the grid was overshadowed by a pre-season testing injury that started the year off in a way far from ideal.

We caught up with Jake at Aragon upon his return to racing, which was only the second-ever time he’d swung a leg over the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP.

Will: What does it mean to be a factory rider for HRC?

Jake: It means a lot. Honda is massive and their name goes beyond racing. To be associated with them is a pleasure. Times are tough now, a lot of bullshit in the media and I think in life there’s always too much noise, you can either let it in or block it out. For me, I block it out and give my maximum in everything I do. Whether people think it’s right or wrong, I think this was the best decision for me right now and I want to bring Honda back to the top positions. I’m committed to the project and want to reward them with good results.

W: Give us a rundown of your biggest career injuries to date.

J: Ha. I wasn’t tallying up so many but I’ve actually got a few now, so the big ones are when I broke my hip in 2016 when I lost the brakes at Oulton Park and hit the barrier. That was a big one, they didn’t know if the ball joint would fully heal and it wasn’t certain for 18 months. I broke my right wrist in Valencia 2020 and now the current one in 2026, these have all been career-ending injuries. I’ve had little niggles before, like breaking my scaphoid and my wrist, not like now where they’re both completely destroyed. I’ve done my MCL, my knee, little bullshit injuries, but they soon add up. You try not to get too many of them, but unfortunately the name of the game is that they happen. It’s not how you get knocked down it’s how you come back. I always live by that, I’ll come back even better.

W: How does this compare to your last injury?

J: One was six years ago and my right wrist, this one’s my left. They’ve all been bad in their own way. 2020 was bad. I wouldn’t say one is worse than the other, they’re both bad in different ways. They’re a fucking pain in the arse, I can put it that way. When you break your wrist, it takes a long time to come back from. These ones have been ligaments as well as broken bones, high energy breaks are never ideal as they take longer to fix.

W: How much physio have you needed?

J: Fucking hell, maybe 85-90 hours of physio just in the first six weeks, three times a day every day, plus oxygen, plus red light, plus icing, it’s a lot when you think about it. Then there’s the super inductive machine, a lot a lot a lot of hours. Only reason I can do this is that it’s my job. To normal people, it wouldn’t be possible, so it’s lucky that I can do that amount so I can be back as early as this. Usually it’s 6-8 months to recover.

W: What’s the worst part of the injury?

J: The first six weeks when you have wires in your wrist, it’s difficult and monotonous. You can’t do too much. It’s a waiting period. Once you have them out, you see progression week upon week, but when they’re in, you don’t even know if they’re healing well.

W: What are the most physical and emotional parts of an injury?

J: You know what? I’ve taken this actually as a blessing to grow as a person because I feel like I’ve become a better human because of the injury. Gives me a bit of a reality check. In the big scheme of things, I’m a better and stronger person. At the end of the day, you can be negative about it but you can also turn it into a positive and learn from it.

W: How bad was the injury, actually?

J: Ha. Yeah, bad. You could hype it up if you wanted but the long and short of it is that the wrist injury could have meant I never rode a bike again. It could’ve been a career-ender. But God has a plan and he said there’s a championship to win, so there are other plans for me.

W: What was the darkest day?

J: The beginning was dark, but I soon flipped it into a positive light. Keep things reggae, keep things light, enjoy your family. The first week was the most difficult because you’re not thinking straight. Why me, poor me attitude, but that soon got flipped.

W: Have you learned anything about yourself during the recovery?

J: Everything. You grow as a person. Feel like I’m a better dad, better racer. I’ve grown throughout the whole process and I’m grateful. It’s humbled me as it’s given me a perspective of realising I love what I do.

W: How have Sarah and Summer helped?

J: I can never repay them. These sorts of times put stress on relationships and that’s no bullshit. I’m an open person and give people the truth, I have the same struggles in relationships that anyone else would. She supports me so so much and maybe I’m too selfish in moments and she deserves better. We talk about this and improve things and she guides me through racing, but she needs someone to guide her too. This process has made me step up and made me more of a man. All I can say to her is that I’m sorry. It actually makes me upset. Sorry for not being good enough at times and being too selfish. I can’t stress how much she does for me.

W: Do these kinds of major injuries make you question retirement?

J: It’s given me a lot more time to think about what things would look like if I were to retire. But no, it hasn’t, I’m too fucking hungry for the success that I want to achieve. I’ve got a lot of results in me still. I’m only 30, the day of retirement is a long time away. We’re far from done.

W: Was it a relief to get back on the mini bike and test your strength?

J: Yeah I love that bike. It was nice to ride in general, I didn’t know what to expect. Fuck, I was nervous. I didn’t doubt if I’d be quick, but I was scared of what pain I’d be in. I have zero doubt in my ability but I was worried about the pain. I understand myself a lot to know I’m capable. I’m fucking ready for it now.

W: Before the Misano test, what was your honest take on how it was going to go?

J: I don’t fucking know. Nervous. Probably the test went worse than I thought, I felt worse than expected. I was a bit deflated after it, thought I’d be faster than I was. But I need to remember it’s my second time on the bike. Everything’s building blocks from here.

W: What would you have considered a success?

J: Being fastest, ha. No, being able to do multiple laps and be strong while doing it, but that’s unrealistic with my injury. It’s difficult man, I always want more no matter if I’m vacuuming or running or anything, I want more and want to better myself day upon day.

W: How do you think Aragon will go?

J: Weird, it’s my first proper weekend in the paddock, it feels really strange. I don’t feel like it’s a race weekend because I’m so relaxed. It’ll be what it’ll be, no matter what I think. I’m going in with open arms.

W: And the following races?

J: We take it day by day, session by session, lap by lap, corner by corner. Grateful to be back and everything’s got a plan.

W: Where do you want to be by the end of the season?

J: …Fuck it, I want to win. Honda’s not ready to win right now, and that’s a fact, maybe not even top 5, but there could be a wet race and why not? I want to win.

Jake competed in Race 1 during the Aragon WorldSBK round, finishing P16. However, the race caused increased symptoms of fatigue in his left wrist, and he sat out the remainder of the weekend.

Dixon skipped the following round in Misano to focus on returning to 100% fitness and made his WorldSBK return during the UK round at Donington Park.

Watch our short film on Jake here.