Honda HRC rounds out the 2026 WorldSBK season with points in Race 2
Circuito de Jerez - Angel NietoRiders Jake Dixon and Somkiat Chantra concluded the 2026 Superbike World Championship by scoring points in the season's final race at Jerez Circuit in Spain.
The ten-lap Superpole Race was first up after a short morning warm-up. This sprint got underway in dry conditions but under very grey skies. Starting from twelfth and eighteenth on the grid respectively, neither Dixon nor Chantra was able to maximise his start, both slipping several places during the opening lap. After recovering to fifteenth, Jake ran a relatively consistent race, holding the position to the finish line. Chantra also did his best to make up the ground lost off the line. Eighteenth by the mid-race point and hampered by his sixth row starting position, Somkiat maintained that position to the chequered flag.
The Superpole Race results meant that Dixon and Chantra retained P12 and P18 on the Race 2 grid. Both riders made reasonable starts but were caught up in traffic through the opening corners. Pushing hard to prevent gaps from opening up ahead, Jake was lying fifteenth by lap five. As drops of rain began to fall on the Jerez track in the closing stages, Dixon briefly gained a position before losing it again and then conceding another place to his teammate, ultimately finishing fifteenth.
Teammate Somkiat experienced a more challenging initial phase but then produced a good recovery ride. After finding himself twentieth through the opening stages, the Thai rider gradually made up ground, moving into eighteenth by lap seven and reaching seventeenth by lap thirteen. Continuing his progress, he gained two more places on lap fourteen to close on teammate Dixon. Staying close to Jake through the final laps, Chantra was able to make a well-timed pass on lap seventeen to move ahead of his teammate and finish fourteenth in the final WorldSBK race of the season.
As the 2026 season concludes, and having missed a significant part of the championship due to injury, Dixon finishes nineteenth in the final standings with 41 points. Chantra completes his rookie WorldSBK season in twenty-first place with 23 points.
“Today was our second day of racing here at Jerez, with the Superpole Race and Race 2. For the Superpole Race we made some small setup adjustments that brought improvement in my feeling on the bike. After the sprint race, we made another small adjustment to improve the feeling under braking and the rear contact. Race 2 was not bad, although the first lap was quite difficult. I tried to go around the outside at the first corner, but there were many riders and I couldn't find a way through. After that, I focused on recovering positions lap by lap and eventually finished fourteenth, which made me really happy. Now we've reached the end of the season, I want to thank everyone who has supported me and the team throughout the year, especially all the fans. Thank you very much to everyone.”
“Today was our second day of racing here at Jerez, with the Superpole Race and Race 2. For the Superpole Race we made some small setup adjustments that brought improvement in my feeling on the bike. After the sprint race, we made another small adjustment to improve the feeling under braking and the rear contact. Race 2 was not bad, although the first lap was quite difficult. I tried to go around the outside at the first corner, but there were many riders and I couldn't find a way through. After that, I focused on recovering positions lap by lap and eventually finished fourteenth, which made me really happy. Now we've reached the end of the season, I want to thank everyone who has supported me and the team throughout the year, especially all the fans. Thank you very much to everyone.”
“This isn't the way I would have wanted to finish the championship. I haven't felt comfortable with the bike all weekend, so I just tried to get the best possible result in these conditions. Anyway, today brings to a close what has undoubtedly been a very difficult season, but at least we finished the final race in the points. We'll focus on the positives we can take from this year, particularly the progress we showed before arriving here at Jerez, and the fact that I'm fully fit and super motivated to work with my team towards next season with very different goals. I'd like to thank everyone on my team and at Honda for giving their best and working incredibly hard throughout the year. We'll come back stronger.”
“This isn't the way I would have wanted to finish the championship. I haven't felt comfortable with the bike all weekend, so I just tried to get the best possible result in these conditions. Anyway, today brings to a close what has undoubtedly been a very difficult season, but at least we finished the final race in the points. We'll focus on the positives we can take from this year, particularly the progress we showed before arriving here at Jerez, and the fact that I'm fully fit and super motivated to work with my team towards next season with very different goals. I'd like to thank everyone on my team and at Honda for giving their best and working incredibly hard throughout the year. We'll come back stronger.”
