Chatting ahead of the Michelin® Grand Prix of Argentina, Indonesian GP Moto2™ polesitter Jake Dixon (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team) sat down with former WorldSBK Champion turned BT Sport Commentator and Presenter, Neil Hodgson, for an incredibly honest, open, and emotional interview about his mental health struggles, his hugely inspirational wife Sarah and more.
“I just think it’s mentality. I’ve always been… in front of the camera and what everyone always sees of me is this guy that’s always like a happy go lucky, always smiling,” began Dixon, talking about what’s changed in 2022 for him as a rider. “But, I’m like any normal human being. I doubt myself, I have that inner doubt and really, really, for my whole career, I’ve always been self-doubting and this year I’ve said to myself: ‘no more’.
"She's my biggest supporter and I want to give back to her what she gives to me."@jakedixonracing opens up to @NeilHodgson100 about his wife's incredible support, his mental health battles and aspirations for the season ahead ????
— MotoGP on BT Sport (@btsportmotogp) April 1, 2022
You’ve got this, Jake ❤️ pic.twitter.com/8Jk919dxP1
“I’ve always had that inner voice in my head telling me ‘you can’t do it, you can’t do it, you can’t do it.’ Me and Sarah laugh because we always talk about it and Sarah is really good to me, she’s the one that always brings me through the tough times of when I’m having it bad. Everyone has that inner voice, you have your good and your bad, and my bad seems to talk to me a little bit too much in the past.
“So we said ‘let’s put a name on it.’ So we called it Cheryl. Sometimes Cheryl starts talking away: ‘you’re rubbish, you’re rubbish!’ Honestly, that to me, by putting a label on something I can say ‘no, you’re not coming in,’ my flow is going this year. And I think that’s been the biggest key, I believe in myself.”
Asked why this change of mindset has come about for Dixon, there’s only one answer.
“It’s Sarah. My wife is the most amazing woman. What some people might not know is, Sarah’s been through a lot, I’ve been through a lot with Sarah when she got cancer, and do you know what, there’s so many things in life that just seem to throw rubbish upon rubbish onto you and it keeps knocking you down, but she’s my biggest inspiration – she kept getting back up.
“So I look at her and I say to myself well, if she’s getting up after having cancer and can beat it, well who’s this Cheryl in my head to knock me down and not let me achieve my goals. So I think that’s the biggest thing and that’s going to be the success to me this year.”
You can watch the full 10-minute chat with Dixon – and we recommend you definitely do – on BT Sport’s social media channels.