Jake Dixon torn between two defining Moto2 victories
Two races stand above the rest in Jake Dixon’s seven-year Moto2 career.
Of the seven victories Jake Dixon claimed during his seven-year Moto2 career, two stand out above the rest.
The Englishman joined the intermediate grand prix class as the British Superbike title runner-up in 2019. But it was far from instant success, with all of Dixon’s victories coming in his final three seasons.
The breakthrough arrived at Assen in 2023 with Aspar, and ended with a final victory in Marc VDS colours at Sepang this year.
In-between came an emotional home victory at Silverstone 2024, which Dixon ranks as one of his highlights.
“Silverstone definitely - because obviously, you always want to win your home GP and the pressure was on,” he said.
Starting fifth on the grid, Dixon soon moved into second place behind Aron Canet.
The pair then pulled a huge gap before Dixon launched a victory pass into turn one on the final lap, holding on to win by 0.177s.
“I was in the perfect position to go out and do the job. I sat there the whole race and if I didn't do it in that moment, I didn't feel like I was ever going to do it,” Dixon said. “I just weighed it up and passed Canet there.
“That was special, but also your first win is always good.”
Dixon’s maiden victory at Assen required him to fend off future Moto2 champion Ai Ogura throughout the second half of the race, eventually breaking the Japanese rider’s resistance in the closing laps.
It marked a turning point for a rider who had endured injuries and several near misses, but he wishes he enjoyed the moment more.
“From where I came from and how hard it is to be British and succeed here, once I’d won, it was like a massive relief,” said Dixon, who is leaving grand prix to join WorldSBK with Honda next season.
“But I wish I'd enjoyed the moment a little bit more. Because I went straight from winning into a five-week break and didn't enjoy any of it. I went on holiday with my wife and just trained like f**k!
“I was just hammering myself day in, day out - thinking that was what I needed to do to be better.
“When, actually, I needed to take a step back and appreciate what's happened. I think that probably would have helped me more than anything.”
Dixon, who won Moto2 races with both the Kalex and Boscoscuro chassis, claimed a best title ranking of fourth overall, in 2023.
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