Honda left Cremona with its best WorldSBK weekend of the season, led by Jake Dixon’s consistent run across all three races. He finished ninth in Race 1, repeated that position in the Superpole race and then moved up to sixth in the final outing. Incidents ahead contributed to the result, but the finish still marked a significant step for Dixon and the Fireblade after a difficult start to the campaign.

Dixon missed the opening five rounds after suffering hand injuries during pre-season testing at Phillip Island. As a result, he arrived at Cremona with only one points finish from his injury-interrupted rookie WorldSBK season. Dixon described the weekend as a major win by Honda’s standards and said he had extracted everything available from the bike. He also offered a measured assessment of the result: the underlying pace was probably good for seventh or eighth, making sixth an overachievement.

More Fireblade development is coming

Further work is being prepared to improve the Fireblade’s competitiveness. Dixon said Honda’s test operations in the UK and Japan are working through potential solutions, with some testing expected in the near future. Jonathan Rea is also pushing Honda firmly in that direction. Dixon described Rea’s approach as direct and demanding, but valuable because sustained pressure is needed to turn development plans into parts that can be evaluated on the track.

Cremona also moved Dixon ahead of Somkiat Chantra in the championship standings, making him Honda’s leading full-time rider. Dixon is 19th in the world championship with 23 points, seven clear of Chantra. The Thai rider finished 13th in each of the three Cremona races before switching to MotoGP duties at Motegi.