Jake Dixon Happy After 'Busy' WorldSBK Test at 'Difficult' Magny-Cours

Jake Dixon completed a two-day WorldSBK test at Magny-Cours feeling positive, despite the circuit being unfamiliar and challenging. It was the British rider's first experience of the French track, which will host a round in September.

Dixon, still a rookie in WorldSBK, had never ridden at Magny-Cours before the 13–14 August test. The track is known as one of the most technical on the calendar, featuring fast changes of direction, tight hairpins, long corners, and its distinctive kerb-hopping final chicane.

The opportunity to learn the track before returning on 7–9 September came with extreme heat: 37°C air temperature and up to 65°C on track. These conditions made the test tricky, but it was still vital for Dixon, who has missed significant time this season due to a pre-season wrist injury.

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“I like the Magny-Cours track. It's a little difficult to learn, but it's a nice one,” said Dixon. “The main thing over these two days was the heat – it was really hot out there. We tried quite a few things, basically working to find a good base setup for me. At the end of the day, it's a test – there are no prizes to be won – so we just focused on working our way through the test plan and gathering as much information as possible. We've been busy, but I ended the test happy.”

Dixon completed 139 laps at Magny-Cours, significantly fewer than his team-mate Somkiat Chantra, who racked up 197 laps. For Chantra, it was also a first visit to the French circuit, and he felt he improved session by session.

“This was my first time riding at Magny-Cours, so I was able to spend a lot of time learning the track while also working on the bike,” said Chantra. “We tried many different things with the setup, including electronics and suspension, over the two days and collected a lot of useful information. This is important because during a race weekend we don't have so much time to test different solutions, while here we could really focus on this kind of work.”

The positive outcome gives both HRC riders a solid foundation ahead of the French Round. Dixon now heads to a two-day test at Estoril, where he will again need to learn the circuit while continuing to develop the bike setup.