Honda HRC have announced that Yuki Kunii will stand in for Jake Dixon at the Motul Hungarian Round when the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship visits in just over a week. Dixon is still recovering from wrist fractures he sustained in a crash at the Official Test in Australia, and, despite his recovery progressing well, he is not yet ready to race. Kunii has experience of the CBR1000RR-R in the Japanese Superbike championship and will race in WorldSBK for the first time in the #96’s place.

Kunii brings plenty of experience to the team from various series. He is a race winner in the Asia Talent Cup and Red Bull Rookies Cup as part of the Road to MotoGP, as well as in what was then the CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship. He made his Moto3 bow in 2019 at Brno before a full-season campaign in 2020, but he did not score points. In 2021, he took a best of P8 at the Styrian Grand Prix, while he also competed in Moto2 in 2025. Between his Moto3 and Moto2 stints, he raced in Japan. He won the 2024 STK1000 title with five wins from a possible six and started his JSB1000 campaign this year with a podium at Motegi.

The full Honda HRC statement read: “The Honda HRC team confirms that factory rider Jake Dixon will be replaced by Japanese Yuki Kunii during the fourth WorldSBK round, set to take place on 1^st-3^rd May at Balaton Park in Hungary. Dixon sustained wrist fractures during the final pre-season test at Phillip Island, a complex injury that has unfortunately forced the British rider to miss the first four rounds of the 2026 season. Jake is already undergoing intensive physiotherapy and using every possible tool to speed up his recovery, including daily sessions in a hyperbaric chamber. Although everything is progressing well on the road to recovery, he is not yet fit to race. Substituting for Dixon in the meantime, 23-year-old Kunii has previously raced in the Moto2 and Moto3 World Championships and currently competes in the All Japan Road Racing Championship, in the JSB1000 class, aboard the CBR1000RR-R.”

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