The ongoing saga surrounding Maverick Vinales’s immediate future with Yamaha Factory could see Jake Dixon promoted onto the Petronas SRT Yamaha for the British MotoGP, according to latest paddock rumours.
The British rider - one of only three full-time UK riders competing across the three grand prix classes - currently competes with Petronas Sprinta Racing in Moto2, but has endured a tough campaign with a best finish of seventh position occurring at the Aragon opener.
However, with Yamaha’s rider line-up thrown into disarray by the combination of Franco Morbidelli’s recovery from injury and Vinales’ suspension for damaging his M1 in a moment of frustration during the Styrian MotoGP, Dixon could be thrown a career-defining opportunity to ride in the premier class on home soil.
As it stands, Vinales was only suspended for the Austrian MotoGP, with Yamaha remaining tight-lipped on whether he will be permitted to return for the remainder of the season or whether his contract - which was due to end early at the end of the year anyway - has been annulled entirely.
Should it be the latter then Cal Crutchlow, who has been deputising for Morbidelli on the Petronas SRT Yamaha, could be promoted up into the Factory squad alongside championship leader Fabio Quartararo, with Dixon ported into Petronas SRT Yamaha.
Though there is no official word from the team itself, Crutchlow himself says it’ll be a good opportunity for Dixon to show his abilities.
“Is he [Dixon] ready to ride the bike? I don’t know. It's difficult to say," Crutchlow told Crash.net. "I wasn’t ready to ride [in Austria] but I did and I think if he does rides, it'll be good for him, he'll go well.
"The bike around Silverstone is quite easy, I would say, even when I rode the bike back in 2011-2012-2013 - well I didn't ride '11, I was in hospital - '12 and '13 the bike was good around Silverstone.
"It's a lot more flowing than this track. A completely different situation to coming here and trying to ride on a track that you're fighting a losing battle with really.
"If he comes and rides, then I'm sure he'll enjoy it."
A big ask but a big opportunity for Jake Dixon?
While the rumours are just that for the moment, the prospect of Dixon riding the Petronas SRT Yamaha could be the bold chance he needs to make a name for himself having slipped into a somewhat anonymous position in Moto2.
The British rider took a gamble when he swapped from the British Superbike Championship - where he was a runner-up in 2018 - to Moto2 in 2019, but looked to be finding his form towards the latter end of 2020 despite injuries.
However, his 2021 Moto2 campaign has failed to flourish and with the Sepang Racing Team having to wind down its Moto2 and Moto3 efforts at the end of the year as a result of Petronas withdrawing its sponsorship, a solid showing in MotoGP could be the thing to put Dixon back in the shop window.
Of course, Petronas SRT Yamaha itself is looking for two new riders for 2022, though Darryn Binder has emerged as a more likely candidate than Dixon - could an eye-catching performance reverse this back into Dixon’s favour?
