Portimão becomes an Oliveira party: Triple podium with the BMW M 1000 RR.

Portimão. It was the perfect stage for Miguel Oliveira’s first successes in the FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) and with the #88 BMW M 1000 RR of the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team. At his home round at Portimão (POR), the Portuguese rider celebrated his first podium finishes in this world championship – in just his second race weekend as a WorldSBK rider. Cheered on by more than 82,000 fans, local hero Oliveira finished third in all three races.

With fourth place in Saturday morning’s Superpole qualifying, Oliveira secured a strong starting position for his home races. With a lap time of 1:39.068 minutes, he even stayed below the previous circuit record set by World Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR) last year on the BMW M 1000 RR. In Race 1 on Saturday afternoon, the Portuguese rider followed this up with his first WorldSBK podium in third place, creating a true festival atmosphere in the grandstands. Oliveira repeated this result in the short Superpole race on Sunday morning. Accompanied by the crowd’s enthusiastic cheers, he went on to secure third place again in Race 2. This was also a special birthday gift for team principal Shaun Muir, who celebrated his 60th birthday on race Sunday.

His Italian teammate Danilo Petrucci, also new to the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team this season on the #9 BMW M 1000 RR, qualified ninth and secured a position on the front rows of the grid. ‘Petrux’ improved over the course of the weekend and finished seventh in the final race on Sunday afternoon. On Saturday, he crossed the line in tenth place, and in the Superpole race he finished twelfth.

The third WorldSBK race weekend of the 2026 season will take place from 17th to 19th April at Assen, the Netherlands.

Reactions after the Portimão round.

Sven Blusch, Head of BMW Motorrad Motorsport: “It was the perfect start to our European season. We are all still overwhelmed by the atmosphere here. It was truly a special weekend. Miguel’s home race, seeing him on the podium in all three races, and more than 82,000 spectators – we have never experienced anything like that before. For Miguel and the Portuguese fans it was a magic weekend, and for us as well. We worked very hard over the winter to get our new riders to the front as quickly as possible. We said: first top ten results, then top five. Now we are already on the podiums. And this is just the beginning – we will continue working to reach the very top. Miguel deserves absolute credit for the performance he showed this weekend. And the same goes for Danilo. We must not forget that this was only our second race weekend together. In qualifying things did not quite come together for him, and overtaking is very difficult here. However, Danilo’s pace was also very strong. He did a very good job this weekend, and I believe we can also bring him onto the podium quickly. We are incredibly happy with our rider lineup and are now looking ahead to Assen. A big thank you to the team in Munich, Berlin, and England. Everyone did an outstanding job over the winter. We all hoped to be back on the podium soon, but that it happened so quickly is something special. And it is perfect to wish Shaun a happy birthday. I would also like to give him a very special thank you. Shaun is a key pillar of our success, and we are incredibly happy to have him on board at BMW.”

Christian Gonschor, Technical Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport: “It was a wonderful weekend. We are happy to be in Europe, and to already return from the second race weekend with a triple podium shows the potential of our bike. Thank you to the entire team in Munich, Berlin, and England, to all suppliers and partners. The performance of our BMW M 1000 RR and the fact that we have taken another step forward with the package were already clearly visible in qualifying. Last year, with the lap times of our two riders, we would have been in first and second place, and Miguel even beat Toprak’s record. This means that we have taken another step forward and made the package even stronger. However, we could see that our competitors have also improved, and the field has become even more competitive. The fact that we were able to give Miguel the opportunity to stand on the podium three times in front of his home crowd makes us all very happy. Now our shared goal is to soon see both riders on the podium. The path to that is set, and three podiums speak for themselves. The potential is there, and now it’s time to keep working and having fun.”

Shaun Muir, Team Principal ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “It has been absolutely a very special birthday gift for me. It‘s been a great weekend. Full credit to Miguel and his team. They‘ve worked so hard and tirelessly. A home round for Miguel, with the phenomenal number of more than 82,000 spectators over the course of the weekend – I‘m totally over the moon for the way they performed. At the other side of the garage, it‘s so close. Danilo is making steps. He is just maybe a little bit off where he wants to be, but we had a much better second race. He made some improvements and I think we can all pat ourselves on the back and look forward to the next round at Assen.”

Miguel Oliveira, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “I’m happy to be on the podium in front of my home crowd. It was special for sure to get all the crowds cheering my name and supporting BMW. That was a really, really cool moment. I am happy because it is a good start. We know that we have work ahead of us but we are motivated to work and this is a small reward for the team to show that we are heading in a good direction, that the package is working with me and we should just focus on taking out the maximum we can from ourselves, from my riding and from this bike. The weekend has been super solid, already since Saturday morning. It’s true that today I struggled much more because I used the front tyre too much. The conditions were slightly different. In race two, I had Alex Lowes behind me but I just forgot about him and did my own race. I tried not to do any mistakes and be as consistent as possible. It was just enough to come home in third. I know it's only the second round and I feel there is some happiness but at the same time we want to achieve more. There is not any kind of pressure but we know where we want to go and we have many opportunities and many races to come. So I‘m looking forward to keep learning and keep getting the best out of the bike and myself. Now we go to Assen, a new track for BMW and me together, so hopefully we can get up to speed quickly already on Friday and and get a good job done.”

Danilo Petrucci, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “The weekend was more difficult than I expected. Sincerely I was hoping for more but I still have to find my way to ride the bike. Still we change the bike mostly every session because every time we discover some new things but at the moment we still have to understand how to correctly use the bike. Finally today we understood something more and I've been faster than yesterday, so this is important. I'm so happy to work in this team. They are putting in a lot of effort, and this makes me proud. But at the moment, I can say thanks to them just with the words. I would like to say thanks to them with the results. But every time I finish the race, I cannot wait to have another one. The spirit is good and I can’t wait to go to Assen. It is one of my favourites tracks. Last year, I was on the podium there, fighting with Toprak. Maybe we can replicate that result this year. In general I’m really happy about Miguel’s three podiums because they give a boost of energy to all the team. It also means that the bike is capable to do that and keeps me motivated for the next round. I just want to say that I’m giving all I have for being on the podium again.”

Facts and figures.

Superpole.

Air temperature: 20°, track temperature: 37°, humidity: 60%, conditions: dry.

*  New all time lap record

Race 1.

Air temperature: 21°, track temperature: 38°, humidity: 49%, conditions: dry, laps: 20.

Fastest race lap: Nicolò Bulega, lap 3, 1:39.962

Superpole Race.

Air temperature: 19°, track temperature: 29°, humidity: 39%, conditions: dry, laps: 10.

Fastest race lap: Nicolò Bulega, lap 4, 1:39.107 (new record)

Race 2.

Air temperature: 22°, track temperature: 40°, humidity: 31%, conditions: dry, laps: 20.

Fastest race lap: Iker Lecuona, lap 3, 1:39.792

Current riders’ classification (R02/12, after 6 of 36 races).

Current manufacturers’ classification (R02/12, after 6 of 36 races).