There for the taking…
■ Recovering from injury but ready to build on a strong 2020
At 25 Jake Dixon is arguably the UK’s brightest prospect. No he hasn’t won a race or been on the podium, but in 2020, only his second year in world championship racing, he showed flashes of what the future may hold. The highlight was leading at Le Mans, only to crash out, but the speed and, even more important, progression he’s shown has got him noticed for all the right reasons. Unfortunately he’ll start the season recovering from a serious right wrist injury sustained at Valencia, an injury that at one point looked like it could end his career. “I didn’t realise how bad it was until I went to my surgeon who warned me that I may not ever be able to ride again,” he told MCN. Since having pins and wires removed to repair the multiple broken bones, dislocation and snapped ligaments in January, Dixon has undergone extensive physio every day, but up until last weekend’s test hadn’t ridden his Moto2 bike since the crash.
“It’s an injury that should take six to 12 months to recover from, so we’ve done well in 10 weeks. Realistically it’s about 75% of where
I need it to be.”
Despite the setback, what isn’t wavering in Dixon’s armoury is the confidence needed to be a front-runner.
“You always have self-belief otherwise you wouldn’t do it. I knew that given the right circumstances I’d be able to show the same speed as the top guys. Last year it was a new team with a new crew chief and it took us some time to find our feet in terms of set-up and find one I liked. Since that point we haven’t changed much, it was a case of working on myself and we just got faster.
“It was never a question of if I could do it, it was just a question of when I could do it.”