Rain disrupts HRC WorldSBK test at Estoril but Jake Dixon “satisfied”

The WorldSBK summer break is almost at its conclusion, and HRC’s Jake Dixon is ending his testing summer testing programme “satisfied” after two days at Estoril.

The two-day test at the Portuguese track was affected by rain, but this was not a total disadvantage for Dixon, whose experience in rain on WorldSBK machinery is limited.

The British rider was also able to use the test to get up to speed with the Estoril layout, one he hadn’t ridden before.

“On day one, damp conditions following early morning rain were not ideal, and I only made one run, to learn the track,” Jake Dixon said after the Estoril test.

“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 [on day two], but conditions [in the] 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.”

Dixon was satisfied with the work he’d done to improve his feeling from the front end of the bike.

“In the end, I feel a little bit more positive with the feeling from the front of the bike,” he said.

“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.”

Rain brings an opportunity for Chantra

Dixon’s team-mate, Somkiat Chantra, also took advantage of the wet conditions to try to adapt himself to riding in the wet on a Superbike and with Pirelli tyres.

“This morning [day two] 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,” Chantra said.

“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.”