BMW doesn't wait: Petrucci and Oliveira on track at Portimao

Petrucci and Oliveira in action with road-legal M 1000 RRs in Portugal: BMW’s new riders get ready for the 2026 Superbike season.

The ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team wants to win even without Toprak Razgatlioglu, and it’s crucial to make the most of the pre-season tests scheduled at Jerez, Portimao, and Phillip Island to be fully prepared. Two new riders are arriving in the garage: Danilo Petrucci and Miguel Oliveira, the former with experience only on the Ducati Panigale V4 R and the latter making his absolute debut in the Superbike World Championship. Their talent is unquestionable, but they will have to work hard to be competitive with the M 1000 RR.

The first SBK test of 2026 will take place at Jerez on January 21–22 and, of course, the BMW team will be on track to prepare for the start of the championship, scheduled at Phillip Island on the weekend of February 20–22. Besides Petrucci and Oliveira, Michael van der Mark should also be present. The Dutchman has not been confirmed on the Superbike squad, but he has stayed on as a tester and brand ambassador.

While waiting to fly to Spain, BMW made a quick trip to Portugal to have Petrucci and Oliveira lap road-legal M 1000 RRs at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. The two riders shared Instagram stories about their presence in Portimao on Epiphany, January 6.

Even though they didn’t ride the SBK version of their bikes, it was still useful for Danilo and Miguel to rack up some miles ahead of the pre-season tests. It also helped them get to know each other better, since they will be sharing a garage for the first time in their careers. They had already crossed paths in MotoGP, particularly in 2021, when both raced for KTM: Oliveira in the factory team and Petrucci in the satellite Tech3 team.

Both have already completed a test with the BMW Superbike in November, at Jerez. Petrucci spoke positively about his first miles on the M 1000 RR: "It was one of the most intense days of my career. I’m proud to be in the factory team," he told the official WorldSBK website, "it will be difficult, but I want to enjoy the bike and the team, everything. It will be a long story, but we started it the right way. It was important to test the bike in November to share feedback with the team, discover the bike, try to understand the positive aspects and where I can be faster. It was a very positive test. Goal for 2026? Improve my performance. In 2025 I fought for third place in the World Championship, I lost it after getting injured. The goal will be to be on the podium at the end of 2026."

Oliveira also shared his impressions of what was his debut in the SBK world: "It’s a big change, but I’m very motivated to start this new chapter of my career. Since it’s a big change, you need to adapt from a technical standpoint, in riding style. The riding position is different, everything is very different. It will take some time to be fast and competitive. Goal for 2026? We should think race by race, even though in a team that has won the last two world titles the bar is quite high. I need to be fast and competitive to meet the expectations."