HRC to field all-new rider lineup for 2026 WorldSBK

Honda HRC will run two fresh faces in the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), with Jake Dixon and Somkiat Chantra signing for the team. Dixon, 29, and Chantra, 26, will come to WorldSBK from the grand prix paddock and are multiple race winners in the Moto2 World Championship. While the new pairing will be making their full-time WorldSBK debuts in 2026, Dixon did make a wildcard start in the series back in 2017.

Dixon and Chantra replace Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona, who joined Honda HRC in 2022. Both failed to win a race in their four years on the Honda CBR1000RR-R, but Lecuona achieved two podiums and Vierge one. At time of writing, Honda’s winless streak in WorldSBK stretches back to 2016, when Nicky Hayden won Race 2 at Sepang.

HRC are confident the new pairing will turn this around, stating that Chantra’s representation of Asian motorsport and Dixon’s European racing heritage will combine to form a talented international line-up with the speed and ambition to challenge at the sharp end of WorldSBK next year.

“We are pleased to welcome Somkiat Chantra and Jake Dixon as factory riders to the Honda HRC WorldSBK Team from 2026,” said Taichi Honda, HRC General Manager.

“Chantra, the first Thai rider to win in Moto2 and race in MotoGP, now takes an important new step within the Honda family, extending his career at the international level as the first Thai rider to compete full-time in the Superbike World Championship as a factory rider. Dixon, a multiple Moto2 winner, has consistently demonstrated the speed and determination required to succeed in a championship as competitive as WorldSBK.

“Together, their talent, experience and racing spirit will be valuable assets as we continue to strengthen our position in the series. We remain fully committed to the WorldSBK project, with a clear goal – to bring Honda back to the top of the championship.”

Chantra, from Chonburi in Thailand, is a graduate of the Asia Talent Cup, which he won in 2016. He then progressed through the FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship in Europe before joining Moto2 with Idemitsu Honda Team Asia in 2019.

In 2022, Chantra made history as the first Thai rider to win a Moto2 race, with victory at the Indonesian GP. He followed that up with another win at the Japanese GP in 2023.

Across six seasons in Moto2, Chantra’s best championship placing was sixth in 2023, but he dropped to twelfth in the 2024 Moto2 season. This year, Chantra joined the MotoGP World Championship with Idemitsu Honda LCR. At time of writing, the Thai’s best result in the premier class has been 15th, achieved at three separate grands prix.

Dixon, from Dover in the UK, has a long resume in racing, starting in the British Supersport Championship in 2015, then the British Superbike Championship (BSB), where he was runner-up in 2018.

The Moto2 World Championship is where Dixon has spent the bulk of his career, with the Brit now in his eighth year in the category, riding for the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team. Dixon’s six victories in Moto2 have all been achieved in the past three years, with his first at Assen in 2023, followed by another at Catalunya in the same year. Dixon next victories came at Silverstone and Aragon in 2024, followed by back-to-back wins at Termas de Rio Honda and CotA this year.

Fourth in the 2023 Moto2 World Championship and eighth last year, Dixon is currently fifth in this year’s Moto2 title chase.

Along with his WorldSBK wildcard back in 2017, Dixon also had a couple of starts in MotoGP with Petronas Yamaha in 2021.