2018 British Superbike runner-up Jake Dixon will switch to the Sepang-financed Petronas Sprinta team for the 2020 Moto2 World Championship after negotiating an exit from his current outfit.
The Briton, who battled Leon Haslam for the 2018 BSB title, switched to the intermediate grand prix class with the Angel Nieto Team for 2019 but has endured a trying campaign on KTM machinery picking up just a single points’ finish thus far.
However, despite being on a ‘one [year] plus one’ deal with the Spanish outfit, our sister publication Crash.net has revealed that for 2020 Dixon has sourced one of the more sought-after rides on the Moto2 grid in Petronas Sprinta Racing.
The only team that competes across all four classes (including MotoE), Dixon will be paired with Xavi Vierge, while the rider he replaces – Khairul Idham Pawi – is set to move into Moto3 where he will be paired with another Briton, John McPhee.
“I’m sorted in the paddock,” Jake Dixon told Crash.net. “2020 is good. I can’t wait, obviously. [But] I can’t say much more.”
Renewed chance for Jake Dixon after tough Moto2 debut
Dixon shunned what could have been a very lucrative career in Superbikes for the chance to try his luck on the grand prix stage, but it’s been a sobering maiden season for the 23-year-old.
Touted as one of Britain’s next big talents, Dixon has managed just one top fifteen finish in Moto2 this year – a 12th position at Assen – but you only need to look at the overall classification to see a correlation in the underperformance of the KTM chassis versus Kalex and Speed Up.
Indeed, save for Brad Binder on the factory bike, no other KTM has made it to the podium in 2019 while Dixon – despite his meagre four points – is still fifth best representative from nine full-time competitors using the bike.
Interestingly, Dixon missed the Jerez round earlier in the year and was substituted by the experienced Mattia Pasini, who proved well off the pace only two weeks after he finished fourth on a Kalex when deputising with Pons Racing.
The Petronas Sprinta deal – which will see him ride a Kalex next season – comes at a good time for Dixon, not least because it seems increasingly likely KTM will fall further off the pace following its decision to focus on MotoGP and Moto3 next year.
It is understood Dixon is an attractive addition to the grand prix ranks for Dorna as one of only two British riders under 24-years-old currently competing. He is the second Briton to have his Moto2 future assured following Sam Lowes' move to Marc VDS alongside Alex Marquez.
