Portuguese star Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) found his footing at home with a pair of P4 results as he continues to put the pieces together late in the 2026 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship season. It hasn’t been an easy rookie campaign for the five-time MotoGP race winner. After a podium triple at Portimao, he missed several rounds with injuries sustained after a crash at Balaton Park, but in the season’s penultimate round, a return to his home country looks to have been just what the doctor ordered.
FLYING OFF THE BLOCK AT HOME
After taking a combined fourth place on Friday, his Tissot Superpole session result of P5 earned him his best grid start since Portimao back in March. Having seen the circuit’s Turn 7 dedicated to him on Thursday, he brought a fighting spirit at home to grind his way up the order over the opening laps. Having fallen down to P6 behind Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) on the opening lap, he found a way past the Italian on Lap 2, and on Lap 3, he took the scalp of British rider Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) on the run into Turn 1 for P4. He then found himself behind fellow WorldSBK rookie Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing), who rode in P3, and while he pursued the Independent Ducati rider doggedly over the first ten laps – the margin remaining around a second over that period – On Lap 11, the #67 broke it open to 1.7s, a margin which the Italian would go on to hold until the end of the race. While he missed the podium on Saturday, P4 arrived as his best result since Race 1 at Balaton Park.
“I BRAKED LATE INTO TURN 3, IT ALLOWED ALBERTO TO CLAIM THE INSIDE, IT’S THE ONLY REGRET I HAD THIS WEEKEND”
Overnight adjustments ahead of Sunday morning’s Tissot Superpole Race saw Oliveira attack at lights out, diving up the inside from P5 into the first corner to emerge in P3. He then poured it on over the first half of the 10-lap race. Apart from the opening lap, he only clocked in one lap above a 1’35.3s – the only riders besides him to set such pace were Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) and Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) in the front two positions. Behind him, Surra had tailed him in P4 since the opening lap, and in a sort of role reversal from Race 1, the #67 hung in consistently around a second behind the #88 until Lap 7. Lap 8 saw the margin shrink to half a second; by Lap 9, it was just a tenth. Oliveira pushed on the knife’s edge to take a home podium for his fans in attendance, but he overcooked the entry to Turn 3 on the final lap and saw the Italian sail past him to earn him his second P4 of the weekend.
On Sunday morning’s Tissot Superpole Race, Oliveira said: “It was a little bit frustrating; I almost had it. The Tissot Superpole Race just went away when I made the mistake on the last lap, but it was a solid weekend overall. I braked late into Turn 3, it allowed Alberto to claim the inside. It’s the only regret I had this weekend. It was one of our best weekends since Portimao with the podium we had there. Solid results, solid Superpole session; we performed quite well.”
“WHEN I OVERTOOK TWO RIDERS AT TURN 1, I DIDN’T KNOW IF THEY HAD BRAKED TOO SOON OR IF I BRAKED TOO LATE”
Saturday afternoon featured the home hero starting from P4, yet it was a tough opening lap for the #88, who slid back to P6 by the end of the opening sector, and after running wide in Turn 6, and again on Turn 9, falling back to P13 by the end of the opening Lap. By Lap 3, he had moved past Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) and Jake Dixon (Honda HRC) to hold P11. Not content with a spot outside the top ten, Oliveira went to work. He started with an impressive double overtake on the run into Turn 1 of Lap 6 past the #22 and Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) for P9, then improved to P7 with passes on back-to-back laps at the same opening corner, moving past Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) and Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha). His handiwork was however, undone as he ran wide on Turn 2 to lose P7 to Vierge, and wide again in Turn 9 to lose P8 to Baldassarri. With 13 laps remaining, he ran wide again into Turn 1 to fall back down to P11. He found his footing in the second half of the race, overcoming Vierge on Lap 11, and gaining positions with Alex Lowes's Lap 16 crash at Turn 4 and Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team)’s Lap 17 crash at Turn 1, to close the round in eighth place.
On the final race of his home round, Oliveira said: “In Race 2, unfortunately the starting position hurt our chances of taking the inside line into the first corner. Once you’re behind, it’s quite tricky; battling as if it was the first lap with 13 laps to go makes you lose a lot of time, even if you’re a bit faster. We understood a bit more about what we need from the bike. We confirmed a few things we had already learned. Race 2 was a bit scary. When I overtook two riders at the same time, I didn’t know if they had braked too soon or if I braked too late. It was hard to stop the bike on Sunday afternoon. I lost the hard work I had put in up until I ran wide. I had good overtakes, it meant we were fast and had good pace; but in the end we couldn’t show it. We go with a positive mindset to Jerez and we’re looking forward to finishing this season with another positive weekend.”
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