Top ten potential for Dixon at Magny-Cours as Chantra scores points on Sunday
Circuit de Nevers Magny-CoursDespite two unfortunate small mistakes on Sunday, Dixon shows solid top ten potential throughout the French weekend, while Chantra closes the round with a P14 finish.
The Honda HRC team has now completed the French WorldSBK round at the Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit in France. In preparation for Sunday’s two races, Jake Dixon and Somkiat Chantra completed a brief warm-up early on, with the weather remaining warm and sunny for a third consecutive day.
Based on Saturday’s qualifying results, Jake lined up in tenth place and Somkiat in sixteenth for the morning’s ten-lap Superpole Race, with both Honda HRC riders opting for the extra-soft SCQ rear tyre. Dixon made a strong start and moved into ninth, establishing his position through the opening laps. Running ninth and closing in on Vierge in eighth during the second half of the race, the British rider looked on course for a strong top nine finish until he came close to losing control of his CBR1000RR-R. Jake managed to save the crash but was forced to run wide and off track, rejoining in sixteenth place. With little time to regain ground, Dixon moved up two positions to cross the line fourteenth. Chantra, meanwhile, lost ground in the early stages before recovering to cross the line seventeenth.
For the second and final race of the weekend, Dixon set out from P11 and Chantra from P16. The British rider moved straight into the top ten, bringing up the back of the chasing group. In what developed into a very fast-paced race, Jake subsequently lost a little ground but worked to maintain his pace and position well inside the points zone. Twelfth at the mid-race point, the rider unfortunately suffered a crash on lap eleven, at Turn 13. He was unhurt in the incident but unable to rejoin the action. Meanwhile, Chantra did not make the best start and slipped back a couple of positions on the opening lap. Working to lap cleanly and consistently, he gradually gained ground to reach the points zone by lap eleven. Somkiat maintained his focus through the second half of the race to secure P14. The race was brought to an early conclusion after 19 laps by a red flag following a crash for another rider.
Honda HRC will now travel to Italy, to the Cremona Circuit, for testing on 9-10 September, in preparation for the tenth WorldSBK round, which will take place at the same Italian track over the weekend of 25-27 September.
“This weekend has definitely seen us make a step. Of course, it’s unfortunate to make two mistakes today, and I apologise to the team for that. The Superpole Race was really annoying because seventh position was on the cards, and probably the same again in Race 2. I was biding my time. I got put out wide when Bautista passed me, so I lost a few positions, but I regrouped, gained back some positions and had just caught back onto the group. Unfortunately, going into Turn 13, I slid a bit too much and, as it gripped, it pushed back onto the front and I had no chance to save it. It’s one of those things, but my mentality is that I will always push to the limit while we try to make the next step. I think our positioning this weekend has been between seventh and tenth. We came eleventh in Race 1, I think, and fourteenth in the Superpole Race, but that result wasn’t a true reflection of where we are. We’ve definitely been in the top ten all weekend. Step by step we’re making good progress. We need to make a lot more progress, but we’re getting closer, so let’s see what we can do next time.”
“This weekend has definitely seen us make a step. Of course, it’s unfortunate to make two mistakes today, and I apologise to the team for that. The Superpole Race was really annoying because seventh position was on the cards, and probably the same again in Race 2. I was biding my time. I got put out wide when Bautista passed me, so I lost a few positions, but I regrouped, gained back some positions and had just caught back onto the group. Unfortunately, going into Turn 13, I slid a bit too much and, as it gripped, it pushed back onto the front and I had no chance to save it. It’s one of those things, but my mentality is that I will always push to the limit while we try to make the next step. I think our positioning this weekend has been between seventh and tenth. We came eleventh in Race 1, I think, and fourteenth in the Superpole Race, but that result wasn’t a true reflection of where we are. We’ve definitely been in the top ten all weekend. Step by step we’re making good progress. We need to make a lot more progress, but we’re getting closer, so let’s see what we can do next time.”
“We had the Superpole Race this morning and I didn’t feel completely comfortable with the bike. Before Race 2 in the afternoon, we worked to improve the feeling and things got better, although I was still not completely comfortable with the front. I tried to adapt to that and change my riding style, but I couldn’t do that much.This weekend we also missed out on the chance to try some things in Race 1, because if we had been able to race, maybe we could have found a better setting. Anyway, today I scored some points, and we will keep working.”
“We had the Superpole Race this morning and I didn’t feel completely comfortable with the bike. Before Race 2 in the afternoon, we worked to improve the feeling and things got better, although I was still not completely comfortable with the front. I tried to adapt to that and change my riding style, but I couldn’t do that much.This weekend we also missed out on the chance to try some things in Race 1, because if we had been able to race, maybe we could have found a better setting. Anyway, today I scored some points, and we will keep working.”
