BMW experiments with Miguel Oliveira: the new winglets aren't enough to take off

Ducati dominance on Friday practice in Hungary, with the first BMW only ninth with Oliveira: a noteworthy novelty appears on the German bike.

There are seven Ducati Panigale V4 Rs in the top seven positions of the timesheets at Balaton Park. Superbike free practice paints a bleak picture for the other manufacturers. BMW, winner of three races in 2025 with Toprak Razgatlioglu, arrived in Hungary with confidence: the track layout should suit the characteristics of the M 1000 RR. But today Miguel Oliveira finished ninth (+0.824s from Lecuona), while Danilo Petrucci (+1.304s) was only fifteenth. There is a lot of work to do to build a positive weekend, even if fighting for the podium seems unlikely.

Oliveira cannot be happy with his situation, but within the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team they have a fairly clear idea of where to intervene to improve: "We know where we’re losing time here: in the slow chicanes. I can’t keep the momentum there,” reports Speedweek, “and that costs a lot of lap time, but also in terms of race pace. We have a clear idea of how we can improve."

Ducati is particularly strong in Hungary, but the Portuguese rider hopes to make the necessary steps forward to secure good results in the races: "When you see so many riders from the same brand up front, you initially feel a bit of frustration. But on the other hand, we have to get the maximum out of our bike. That’s our job and our goal. I’d like to finish in the top six, but it’s a challenge."

Oliveira’s BMW M 1000 RR features a slightly revised fairing at the rear. From the former MotoGP rider’s words, it doesn’t seem the winglets mounted on his bike have made a difference so far: "Our main goal was to gather data. They can help us in the corners, but Balaton Park is a peculiar circuit. You don’t spend much time on the tire’s edge here and cornering speeds are very low. Unless they prove to be a disadvantage, we’ll continue to use them."

The winglets introduced on the fairing are nothing revolutionary, but Oliveira thinks they could still bring some advantage on tracks different from Balaton Park: "They won’t solve any problem. They can be an improvement, but we need to collect more data. We have to test them on different layouts. The effects of each aerodynamic package are felt more at high speeds. As soon as we ride at higher cornering speeds, I’ll be able to better assess whether they bring benefits."

It’s important to ride on other circuits to make comparisons and better understand whether the new feature can be helpful. Petrucci’s feedback will also be crucial, as soon as he has the opportunity to test it.