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The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship campaign delivered an unforgettable experience at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve as thousands flocked to motorsport’s rollercoaster. The Pirelli Portuguese Round delivered plenty of highs for some riders but there will be others who were left wanting more after a tricky visit to Portugal.

HITTING THE PEAK: Aruba.it Racing – Ducati unbeatable in Portugal

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) headed to Portimao as the favourite and he converted that into pole position and a hat-trick. In fact, the only blot on his copybook was the fact that he didn’t secure the fastest lap in Race 2; that went to teammate Iker Lecuona. The #7 had a solid if unspectacular Ducati debut in Australia, but he unleashed his pace on the Algarve coastline. It looked like he might grab pole position before Bulega’s last-gasp effort and he came home behind his teammate in all three races for his first Ducati podiums and he’s more than doubled his podium count from the first four years of his WorldSBK career in a single round.

HOME HERO ON THE ROSTRUM: Oliveira gives huge crowd something to cheer

Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) has enjoyed success at Portimao before. He won the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix for KTM, and now he’s added his first WorldSBK podiums to his successes on home soil. Three rostrums were just reward for the #88 after starting from fourth in Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race, while his P3 in the latter gave him a front row start for Race 2. A huge crowd of more than 82,000 across the weekend gathered, in part to see what their motorsport hero could achieve, and they were rewarded with three podiums.

SAM LOWES NURSES WRIST INJURY INTO THE TOP FIVE: A strong result for the #14

British rider Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) came into the Portuguese Round with two fractures in his left wrist and hand following a big crash at Phillip Island. No surgery was required but the #14 was still nursing the injury at Portimao. He was quickest on Friday but admitted he was worried about the longer distances, given he did short runs in the practice sessions. However, the Lincoln-born rider was able to come home in P5 in all three races as he secured strong results despite the injury. In fact, he’s finished in fifth place in every race he’s finished this season.

THE FLIP SIDE: Barni Ducati’s potential isn’t realised

The Barni Spark Racing Team have Yari Montella and Alvaro Bautista in the box for 2026. Montella has two front row starts and a podium to his name this season, while Bautista is a two-time WorldSBK Champion who finished third in the world last year. The potential is there for consistent strong results, but Portimao epitomised the flip side of the coin. Montella crashed while running in P2 in Race 1 after crashing at Turn 14, and he fell again in Race 2 at the tricky Turn 5 while running in P5. Bautista recovered from running wide in Race 1 at Turn 1 to finish in the top ten, but he also crashed in Race 2 at Turn 5 while running in the top seven.

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