DIXON DOES IT!
In a season predicable only in two particular ways – one, that unpredictability usually reigns and, two, that inconsistency in teams, riders and bikes also still reigns – you get a little beauty such as this. Jake Dixon not only took his first ever BSB podium at Knockhill, the lad also did the double win! The best part? The look of absolute disbelief on his face, the emotion at winning a BSB race in his second season, and the joy of the team and all associated with him. It was marvellous.
It’s true, he was magnificent in Scotland, well done dear boy, that was superb. And, this could finally be the sign that we have the next generation ready to step up to the plate. We’ve had false dawns before of course, ever since the last golden batch of riders made the move to the world stage.
It’s now been many years since Leon Camier, Jonny Rea, Cal Crutchlow et al did a runner, but the worrying thing about that is there hasn’t really been another exodus of talent emigrate successfully from BSB since. The Lowes twins, yes, and Luke Stapleford in Supersport, but apart from those guys we haven’t had a glut of young, hungry and top-level racers move on – and it’s been nearly ten years since Leon Halsam and the rest bade their BSB farewells, long enough that Leon is now, of course, back in Britain.
The hope was that those such as Luke Mossey would eventually move on, and Dixon now carries a little of that hope, too. Jake scored a pair of top-six finishes at Snetterton, after his Knockhill triumph, which is decent but for us, a little disappointing. We don’t mean that in a negative sense though, this is just that inconsistency we were talking about earlier. Luke Mossey, ever since his Brands Hatch double, hasn’t quite set the series on fire either, coming away from Snetterton with a single tenth place finish and a wrecked championship lead. Add in machine inconsistency, such as with James Ellison (who looks as though he’s going to have to bribe someone to nab a spot in the Showdown right now), and you have in a nutshell the reason why Shane Byrne and Leon Haslam have been the men to beat. They’re usually the most consistent of the bunch, and while it’s great for the youngsters to have these awesome veterans to fight against, while they’re winning most of the titles, how can any aspiring world level BSB racer make that move? They have to beat them, a lot, and a lot more often if they’re not to win the series – and still progress.
And even with the pair of Haslam and Byrne, Shakey will have a wee rough patch every year, which he had at the start of 2017. And Leon’s challenge nearly always get hampered by either bad luck, machinery breakdowns or injury. Last year saw plenty of issues with his Kawasaki costing him a raft of points, and now his sickening crash at Knockhill lost him two race-worth of points too, although he valiantly returned at Snetterton to grab whatever he could, while still recuperating.
Regardless, it’s still almost impossible to look past he and Byrne for the BSB title, the pair are too good and probably still a little too talented for the young guns to best. We know that won’t stop Dixon, Mossey and the rest trying though!