10 minutes with... Knockhill BSB winner Jake Dixon

Jake Dixon stole the headlines with a stunning debut double victory after the fifth round of the MCE British Superbike Championship at Knockhill.

What made Dixon’s maiden victories all the more impressive, is that prior to Knockhill the RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki rider’s best BSB result was sixth place at Snetterton last year.

We headed to his home in Ashby De La Zouch to find out more about the 21-year-old star for our new bi-weekly ’10 minutes with’ feature. 

What’s your racing background?

I started racing in 2010 when I was 14 in the Aprilia Superteens. I finished third in the championship after winning a lot of races but crashing a lot. That sort of became the story of my career!

Would you say you had to grow up in Superbike?

Yes, but you’ve got to have character. There’s no point in being somebody that’s boring, plain and has nothing about them. I have a laugh with the boys when we’re at the track but when it’s time for the session to start we all chill out and think about the job in hand. You have to be a lot more mature in the way you think and make decisions in Superbike.

Your Dad was a World Champion; I guess that means you’ve got to aim pretty high?

Dad won his last world title in 1996, the year I was born. That’s something I quite like. Dad was also the last privateer to win the BSB title so I would like to replicate that and be the next privateer to take it from my Dad. That to me would be a massive achievement, Dad’s had such a big influence in my career and got me to where I am today. He’s forever giving me useful information as he was fast himself. He tries to look at it from a racer’s point of view rather than a Dad’s. He’s a big part of my racing career and always will be. 

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Shakey was your manager for a while, what did you learn from him?

Shakey taught me to be a lot more professional in how I go about things. You’ve only got to look at what he’s like. He always says the right things, maybe I don’t say the right things at times but I’d like to think that I’m not perfect so there’s no point in trying to make myself perfect when Im not. I like to be myself and I like people to see me for being me. He helped me become more professional but there’s also the side of me that can show who I am as well. 

How did you celebrate your double win?

That night after winning I drove back with Sarah and my Dad. It took us five hours! We got back at 2am. The next day I didn’t do a lot but since then I’ve been training. The world doesn’t just stop just because I’ve won two races. The other riders don’t stop training and working. I’ve got to keep going, I want this to be the start of something that can go on so I need to be out there, training as hard as I can train to make this happen again as that’s all that counts.

What does the future hold for Jake Dixon?

I don’t know what the future holds. Who knows? I could win the BSB championship this year and set me on to bigger things, or I could be here for the next two or three years. You really can’t plan what you’re going to do as you don’t know what the future holds. You’ve just got to take it race by race and whatever happens happens. You can only do what you’re in control of. I’m not in control of what happens next year. I’m not in control of what happens in the next race, all I can do is focus on what I’ve got.

For an in-depth interview with Dixon, pick up this week’s MCN. 

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