Jake Dixon overcame difficult conditions throughout round nine of the MCE British Superbike Championship at Silverstone at the weekend with three strong rides, including a third place, securing both him and the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki team a place in the six-rider Showdown.The 21-year old qualified in a strong second place for the first of the three races, which was held on Saturday afternoon in damp, and extremely slippy, conditions and a good start saw him grab the lead on the opening lap. With one half of the circuit wet and the other half dry, riders on full wet tyres were those in the ascendancy and although Jake slipped back to fourth a lap later, he rode a mature race to secure 13 extremely valuable points.

Despite finishing fourth, the nature of the race meant he had to start Sunday’s opening 14-lap encounter from 12th and the fourth row of the grid which left him with considerable work to do. Indeed, whilst he opted for the softer SC0 tyre, he wasn’t able to make as much progress as he would have liked and had to settle for ninth after the race was ended early due to a slight oil spill.

It meant there were just four points covering the three riders – Jake, Luke Mossey and Christian Iddon – going for the final Showdown spot and there was everything to play for in the third and final race of the weekend. Jake lined up in seventh with Iddon (13th) and Mossey (16th) further behind.

The race was held in wet conditions to make it even trickier for the riders and with an extremely slippy surface, staying upright proved to be extremely challenging. Indeed, five riders crashed out on the third lap by which time Jake was in seventh place but Iddon was proving to be the danger man as he moved up into fourth.

By lap six, Jake had moved up to fifth as Iddon took second but the BMW rider crashed out two laps later which handed the Showdown position to Jake. With riders continuing to fall, the race was eventually brought to an end on lap ten with Jake finishing in third place to pick up another podium credit. The final three rounds, dubbed the ‘Showdown’ will now see the leading six riders dispute the Championship with the points reset at 500 and the podium credits of each rider added on.

Speaking after securing his spot in the showdown Dixon, said: “Coming into the weekend we were expecting rain but in Friday’s wet practice sessions, I wasn’t very strong and even in the races I wasn’t that strong. Christian (Iddon) came by me and although I tried to pick up the pace, I couldn’t go with him. Just after half race distance, the tyres suddenly kicked in and I started moving forward. When Christian went down though it really threw me and I was riding like a novice.”

“It’s so easy to go down in the wet but I managed to stay upright and not only get on the podium but clinch my spot in the Showdown. It’s my first full year in BSB so to make it into the Showdown is an amazing feeling and for the team as it’s their first time also. The whole team has worked incredibly hard all year long so now we’ve made it through, I’m ready to take the fight to the other five riders and have a real good go for the title.”