Thursday at the Circuito Estoril has been a spicy one in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. From reflecting on title celebrations to home rounds and the future, there have been plenty of big discussions on the cards at the Tissot Estoril Round. We’ve gathered the best from Thursday’s debriefs for you.
“I’M MUCH MORE RELAXED THAN AT PORTIMAO… I’M JUST LOOKING TO ENJOY A GOOD RESULT”
It’s a home round for Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who’s excited for Estoril: “It feels good to be back here. I haven’t raced at Estoril since 2012. Very good memories because it’s the track where I grew up as a little racer. The track is in excellent condition. We were here for a day in August, and it brought good sensations. The track is still the same as I remember. I’ve done a couple of track days afterwards, so the track stayed very vivid in my memory. I’m much more relaxed than at Portimao, I know it's a home round and everyone will be very keen to come watch World Superbike. That will be a little bit chaotic, but at the same time, I'm much more relaxed. Obviously, I take the weekend seriously, but I’m just looking to enjoy a good result. It will be very interesting to go to Valencia, and Shanghai was a new addition for sure. The organisation got it done and for sure we're very happy to go to China and see all the Chinese fans.”
“MAYBE I STILL DON’T REALISE IT 100%... WE CELEBRATED BUT NOT A LOT, BECAUSE THE SEASON ISN’T FINISHED”
Newly crowned Champion Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) explained the celebrations and how he’s feeling now: “I’m really happy to achieve this great result. Maybe I still don’t realise it 100%, because after Cremona I had a lot of events and that kind of thing. I will celebrate much more after the season. I received a lot of messages from a lot of people. I spent one week on the phone answering the messages! We celebrated, but not a lot because the season isn’t finished. The goal is to win. I start a race weekend always trying to win. I think Franco Morbidelli, first of all, is a great guy and he’s a great rider. I think with this team, he has what he needs to bring out his maximum potential. If he does it, he’ll be very strong.”
“THERE HAVE BEEN TALKS REGARDING STAYING HERE WITH ANOTHER TEAM… IT’S NOT ME DECIDING”
Speaking about his future, Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) said: “I'm happy because it's a track that I always liked and we had the chance in August to come here and do some testing. We've tested at other places around Europe such as Donington and Magny-Cours; the outcomes weren’t good, but it gave us a base to start from. What I was riding in Cremona is quite different from what I'm going to ride this weekend. I'm quite confident because we are still working hard together with the team. These could be my last two rounds in World Superbike, so I just want to enjoy and see what happens. I'm waiting on BMW because I've been to the USA to see how the situation is there. There have been some talks about staying here with another team, but it's it's just talks because it's not me deciding. GoEleven has asked us if I'm still free, but at the moment we don't have an answer. I'm free because I still don't have any, let's say, any paper from the USA.”
“WE’VE TRIED HARDER AND HARDER, BUT WE’VE ACHIEVED MUCH LESS THAN WE EXPECTED”
Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) spoke about his plans beyond 2026, saying: “The feeling was getting better last weekend, and it wasn’t the end we deserved. This track is very different, but I will try to recover my feeling. We’ve tried to not change much on the bike over the last few rounds. It’s felt like every time we’ve started to build our confidence this season, something has happened, and we've gone backwards. Why not six podiums to end the season? We ended last season with eight consecutive podiums. This season is different, but I want to close it out as well as possible. I started this season with a clear target, and we have tried our best, but sometimes the results don’t come. We’ve tried harder and harder, but we’ve achieved much, much less than what we expected. It’s a different team, a different bike. This bike seems made for bigger riders with more arm strength. We had a lot of difficulties; it made no sense for us to keep going with that bad feeling and go our separate ways. Right now, I don’t have any clear proposals that motivate me to keep racing. I want to finish out this season, then have a break and think about my future. I don’t want to do something just because I have to. I want something that motivates me and makes me feel like I have a chance to recover my form and performance level. I just want to end this season as soon as possible. I’ve had good results at Estoril, but Jerez is my home round. I’d like to enjoy these two rounds, then think about the future.”
“IT’S A BIG OPPORTUNITY FOR ME… I’M SO EXCITED”
With his future secured for 2027, Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) said of his move to Barni Ducati: “I’m so excited with the news. It will be a big opportunity for me; it’s true that everything will change next year. I think this opportunity arrived at a good moment in my career. I have a lot of experience. Barni’s done an amazing job in the last few years, always fighting for the top positions and to be the top Independent team. I’m so excited for that. I haven't had time to speak to anyone. Yari’s doing an amazing job this year, so to have him as a teammate will be a big help for me. Cremona was a difficult track for us, but we believe the last two rounds will be better. It’s a track that suited our package. Yamaha have been strong in the last few years, and also me; they’re two tracks I like.”
“I THINK WINNING ANOTHER TRIPLE WILL BE DIFFICULT BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE”
Heading to Estoril off the back of a maiden hat-trick, Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) previewed the round: “I’m happy and excited to arrive here. It’s a track I usually do quite well at, and I earned a podium here two years ago here. It’s a track I like and one I’m usually quite fast at, so let’s see what happens this weekend. We need to confirm some things we tried at Cremona; I tried a new base there, and this weekend Nicolo will be fresher and under less pressure, so he will be even faster. Let’s see what happens. I think winning another triple will be difficult but not impossible. We’ve shown that we’re a proper competitor with him, and I hope it will be a similar situation. I know Morbidelli is a very fast rider. I know him from Moto2 many years ago. I think he struggled a lot this year, but he’s a very fast rider. I think he will have a year like mine this season, or maybe even better. He has a lot of experience, and it won’t be a new tyre for him next year. A few months ago, I said I’d like to race again in Valencia. It will be a real home race for me.”
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