BMW M 1000 RR back in the fight for WorldSBK podiums

Estoril. Just 0.1 seconds – the blink of an eye – separated them from the podium: the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team and Miguel Oliveira (POR) made the expected step forward. At his home round at Estoril (POR), Oliveira was in the fight for the podium on his #88 BMW M 1000 RR. Cheered on by more than 36,000 fans, the Portuguese rider took two fourth-place finishes, making it his second-best race weekend in the FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), behind the event in Portimão (POR), where he stood on the podium three times.

For Oliveira, who comes from the area near Estoril, the event began with a special tribute on Thursday. Following a fan event in nearby Sintra, he led a convoy of more than 1,000 motorcycles back to the Circuito Estoril. There, in a special ceremony, Turn 7 was named after the local hero. It is now known as the “Miguel Oliveira Corner”.

Oliveira got his sporting weekend off to a strong start with fourth place in Friday’s practice sessions. In Saturday morning’s Superpole qualifying, he secured fifth place on the grid. He made the most of this strong starting position in Saturday afternoon’s opening main race, finishing an impressive fourth.

In Sunday morning’s Superpole Race, Oliveira stormed into the top three with an outstanding start and fought for the podium right up to the final corner. In the end, he missed out by just 0.1 seconds, once again finishing fourth. This result earned him one place on the grid for Sunday afternoon’s second main race. The race proved eventful for the Portuguese rider. On the second lap, he ran wide and initially dropped back to 12th place. Numerous battles and overtaking manoeuvres followed before he eventually crossed the finish line in eighth place.

His team-mate Danilo Petrucci (ITA) started all three races on his #9 BMW M 1000 RR from 14th on the grid. However, he struggled to make up ground, finishing 18th once and 16th twice.

Estoril hosted the 11th and penultimate round of the 2026 WorldSBK season. The season finale will take place as early as next weekend (16th to 18th October) in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.

Reactions after the Estoril round.

Sven Blusch, Head of BMW Motorrad Motorsport: “The weekend began with a special moment for Miguel and his family. The many fans and the tribute showed us what a special brand ambassador he is for us. In sporting terms, his progress is clearly positive, with two fourth-place finishes. Race two was a little unfortunate, as fourth place would have been possible there as well. His overtaking manoeuvres also show that he is growing in confidence on track. We saw the strengths Miguel is known for once again, which gives us plenty of confidence heading into Jerez. Danilo, on the other hand, had a difficult weekend, but we are not giving up. We will give him our full support so that we can finish the season on a positive note together in Jerez.”

Christian Gonschor, Technical Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport: “We were able to continue the turnaround that began in Cremona here at Estoril. Miguel was very close to the leading times in all sessions, secured a strong starting position with an impressive qualifying performance and confirmed the bike’s podium potential in the races. The technical changes introduced since Magny-Cours, combined with Miguel’s mental strength, delivered some great races. In the end, we were just one tenth of a second short of third place in both qualifying and the sprint race, while in race one the gap was only 1.7 seconds. Miguel can now pick up right where he left off before his injury in Hungary. My special thanks go to my team in Munich, who have never stopped working to improve the bike, despite a challenging season.”

Miguel Oliveira, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “The big pre-event with this many bikes was a great start to my home round and I am honoured that a corner at Estoril has been given my name. The weekend was one of the best we’ve had since Portimão. It was very solid: good results and a good qualifying. It hurts a little bit not to have finished on the podium in the Superpole Race, and race two, for sure, didn’t go our way. I’m a little bit angry about that, but we took some steps with the bike. Now I’m looking forward to Jerez.”

Danilo Petrucci, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “Estoril has been quite tough. I didn’t expect to suffer so much in the races. In qualifying, it wasn’t that bad. I made a small mistake, but we were quite close to the top ten. Unfortunately, in race one I had to avoid another rider, and went straight on. Then today we decided to do some tests to understand which direction we wanted to go. Unfortunately, some changes didn’t work as planned. Still, we have some ideas for Jerez for my last race. I really want to finish the season in a strong way.”

Facts and figures.

Superpole.

Air temperature: 22°, track temperature: 29°, humidity: 42%, conditions: dry.

Race 1.

Air temperature: 23°, track temperature: 38°, humidity: 55%, conditions: dry, laps: 21.

Fastest race lap: Nicolò Bulega, lap 3, 1:34.949 (new record)

Superpole Race.

Air temperature: 19°, track temperature: 24°, humidity: 80%, conditions: dry, laps: 10.

Fastest race lap: Nicolò Bulega, lap 4, 1:34.525 (new record)

Race 2.

Air temperature: 20°, track temperature: 33°, humidity: 78%, conditions: dry, laps: 21.

Fastest race lap: Nicolò Bulega, lap 3, 1:34.696

Current riders’ classification (R11/12, after 33 of 36 races).

Current manufacturers’ classification (R11/12, after 33 of 36 races).

Michael Le Pard

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