Jake Dixon claims first MotoGP points with Honda in dramatic Qatar weekend

Jake Dixon stepped into the premier class and immediately made it count, grabbing his first career MotoGP points during a chaotic weekend at the Lusail International Circuit. The seven-year Moto2 veteran got the call-up to replace Joan Mir, marking his first appearance in the championship since a pair of outings back in 2021 at Silverstone and Aragon.

Getting a grip on the Honda RC213V required a patient climb. The #96 machine found P18 in Practice before posting a 1’51.621s time to take P7 ahead of Maverick Vinales. When Saturday rolled around, Dixon lined up P17 for the Sprint. The race brought immediate carnage, including a red-flag-inducing crash involving Pecco Bagnaia and Fermin Aldeguer—which left Bagnaia ruled unfit with right foot fractures—alongside Marco Bezzecchi going down after contact with Marc Marquez. Dixon briefly climbed as high as P15 amid the chaos, though he eventually slipped behind Vinales on Lap 6 to cross the finish line in P16.

Sunday's marquee Grand Prix offered a cleaner path forward after Bagnaia's unfit ruling and Luca Marini's withdrawal from the weekend due to fatigue moved Dixon up to P15 on the grid. A stellar launch on the opening lap shoved him up to P14, keeping him ahead of Vinales and Franco Morbidelli. Even after dropping back to P16 on Lap 4 following attacks from both riders, attrition played its part over the distance. Diogo Moreira tumbled to the back before retiring on Lap 16, and Brad Binder suffered the same retirement fate a lap later, lifting Dixon into P14 to secure his first two championship points.

Reflecting on the weekend, Dixon was understandably thrilled with the machine and the performance. “Obviously, there were people who were out of the races, but it was a fantastic weekend; I really enjoyed it,” he said. “I had a great time, the Honda team are a nice bunch of guys and girls. I had a great time altogether. An absolute dream come true. I’m really happy to have gone faster in the Grand Prix than in the sprint, even over double the distance. You have to learn to adapt in life, this weekend I was in at the deep end; you have to adapt and always try to be better.”