Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) secured his fourth MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship rostrum with a third-place finish at the Balaton Park Circuit. The Portuguese star was made to work hard for his latest podium after engaging in an epic battle during Race 1 of the Motul Hungarian Round, eventually finishing in P3 behind the Aruba.it Racing - Ducati duo of Nicolo Bulega and Iker Lecuona.

Oliveira’s weekend got off to a solid start with seventh in Free Practice 1 after posting a 1’40.593s, although this was around ninth tenths off Lecuona’s pacesetting time. In Free Practice 2, the #88 finished in ninth place with a 1’39.684s, and again was around a second off the pace set by Lecuona; a podium finish looked unlikely for the five-time Grand Prix race winner, but he and his BMW team were able to turn their weekend around on Saturday.

In the morning Free Practice 3 session, Oliveira finished in sixth with a 1’38.986s; but the gap to top spot had been reduced to around six tenths of a second. A good lap in the Tissot Superpole session was needed to put the BMW rider in the mix for a rostrum and, despite not hooking everything up, he set a 1’38.867s to claim P4. He was then able to convert this into a hard-fought podium place in the opening race of the weekend.

Discussing the step made on Saturday and his goals for Sunday, Oliveira said: “We made some electronic changes, nothing big. It was quite clear where I was losing out and we tried to work on that this morning, even if the conditions were a bit hot and it wasn’t as easy in FP3 to repeat the lap time. I managed to improve a little bit more and had the potential to go a bit faster, which is nice. We kept that for the race, and it was an important race to get some data for tomorrow. It’s going to be difficult tomorrow. We have a 10 or 12 second gap, but we’ll give our best to try to reduce it. We’ll see about the position, but if I can fight again for the podium twice tomorrow, I’ll leave Balaton Park happy.”

Oliveira finished the race with a 1.5 second margin in hand over Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team), although that doesn’t tell the full story of the fight for P3. The Portuguese rider had to battle with the #5, Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) and surprise package Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) to secure the podium, with the four riders producing some incredible racing at the Hungarian venue – watch their battle unfold HERE.

Reflecting on his day as a whole and securing the podium, the 31-year-old said: “It was a positive day. We made a good step in Superpole. We didn’t put the whole lap together and with the yellow flags, we didn’t optimise what was left in the bike. Beginning on the second row is a good starting place and I made a good start. I was outbraked by Yari which made me lose a lot of time. I was just not fast enough to stay close and overtake. Even with the mistakes he was making, I wasn’t able to overtake him. It was difficult but I managed to secure P3, managed to build a gap behind me and trying to control the gap, getting into my own pace and see what I could do. Also, it’s important data for tomorrow.”

Can Oliveira secure more podiums on Sunday in Hungary? Find out using the WorldSBK VideoPass – now 30% off!