The WorldSBK summer break is nearly over, and Jake Dixon wrapped up his summer testing programme with HRC feeling "satisfied" after two days at Estoril.
Rain disrupted the two-day test at the Portuguese circuit, but it wasn't entirely a disadvantage for Dixon, whose experience in wet conditions on WorldSBK machinery is limited. The British rider also used the test to familiarise himself 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," Dixon said. "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," he added.
"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 pleased with the improvements made to the front-end feeling. "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."
Dixon's team-mate, Somkiat Chantra, also took advantage of the wet conditions to adapt to riding a Superbike with Pirelli tyres in the rain. "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 apply it."
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