Honda HRC makes good use of Estoril test despite changeable conditions
Circuito EstorilHonda HRC rides around the mixed conditions in Portugal as it prepares for the final WorldSBK rounds of the 2026 season
With the next WorldSBK races set to take place in a little over a week, the factory Honda HRC team has spent two productive days at Portugal’s Estoril circuit with riders Jake Dixon and Somkiat Chantra, despite rather inclement weather. This week’s test session, which ran across Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 August, comes less than two weeks after another busy test at Magny-Cours in France.
Rain on Tuesday morning left the track partially wet and delayed the scheduled start, though the riders headed out for a few exploratory laps as conditions gradually improved. While Thai rookie Chantra has competed at the Portuguese circuit in the past, though not with a Superbike, this week’s test marked a first visit to Estoril for teammate Dixon.
Chantra and Dixon continued to put in the work on Wednesday, despite further rain affecting the morning’s session. The wet conditions nevertheless provided Chantra and Dixon with a useful opportunity to gain more experience in fully wet conditions. As the track gradually dried during the afternoon, both riders were able to resume their respective test programmes, continuing to work on different setup solutions and making further progress with the bike. Putting in a total of 175 and 134 laps respectively over the two days, Somkiat and Jake made the most of the available track time despite the changeable conditions.
The wet weather aside, the squad leaves Portugal with a good amount of data and confidence as it heads into the final part of the 2026 season. Having made constructive use of the six-week summer break, next up for the Honda HRC team and riders Dixon and Chantra is the ninth WorldSBK round, which will take place on 4–6 September at the Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit in France.
“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.”
“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.”
“We’ve finished two days of testing in Estoril. On day one, as always, we started working on the bike setup, trying different settings. Some were not working while others were positive and by the end of the day the feeling was quite good. We also tried to do some long runs, and the lap times were solid in the afternoon. This morning brought full wet conditions, and it was good for me to test in the wet because I’ve not had much experience of it with the CBR and with a Pirelli rain tyre. It was good to try this for the first time. We made quite a lot of laps in the wet and ultimately found some settings that looked good. In the afternoon the track started to dry, and we kept working hard because we wanted to find more. It looks like we might have found something, and we also improved the lap time. It’s never enough though; we always need and want to improve more. Next up is the Magny-Cours round, where we’ll try to take another step.”
“We’ve finished two days of testing in Estoril. On day one, as always, we started working on the bike setup, trying different settings. Some were not working while others were positive and by the end of the day the feeling was quite good. We also tried to do some long runs, and the lap times were solid in the afternoon. This morning brought full wet conditions, and it was good for me to test in the wet because I’ve not had much experience of it with the CBR and with a Pirelli rain tyre. It was good to try this for the first time. We made quite a lot of laps in the wet and ultimately found some settings that looked good. In the afternoon the track started to dry, and we kept working hard because we wanted to find more. It looks like we might have found something, and we also improved the lap time. It’s never enough though; we always need and want to improve more. Next up is the Magny-Cours round, where we’ll try to take another step.”
