BMW struggle without Toprak, but Oliveira doesn’t give up: “Top 5 is realistic”

The M 1000 RRs are struggling in Australia; it was already clear during testing that the first 2026 Superbike weekend wouldn’t be easy for Oliveira and Petrucci.

Toprak Razgatlioglu is no longer there, so the ROKiT BMW Motorrad team must work even harder to put Miguel Oliveira and Danilo Petrucci in a position to be competitive. Phillip Island isn’t easy, considering the track is among the worst on the calendar for the M 1000 RR, which hadn’t won there even with El Turco. It’s normal for the newcomers to be having a hard time, coming from different experiences and needing more time to adapt to the new bike.

At the end of Friday’s SBK free practice, the timesheet reads: Oliveira tenth (+0.888 from leader Bulega) and Petrucci twelfth (+0.976). FP3 will be important to try to make progress ahead of Superpole; starting too far back in the race would be very penalizing.

The Portuguese rider, speaking to WorldSBK’s official channels, summed up his first day of a race weekend in the production-based championship: "Not good and not bad, it was an average day. We expected to make some steps with the bike in the morning, I felt better, the team helped me feel more comfortable with the electronics. With the rear tire we couldn’t find any more performance. We tried to do a Superpole Race simulation to get the maximum performance out of the tires, but it seemed like there just wasn’t any more there. We need to work a bit in the box and come back stronger on Saturday."

In the ROKiT BMW Motorrad team they need to analyze everything that didn’t work as well as it should and figure out how to put Oliveira in a position to be more effective on Saturday: "I felt more comfortable with the bike in FP2 - he explains - but I was faster in FP1. This means something didn’t work well with the grip balance in the afternoon; we need to check the data and find a solution for FP3."

The third free practice session will be crucial; the former MotoGP rider knows it and can’t wait to tackle the first Superpole of his new Superbike adventure: "I’m confident, we’ll have to work really well in FP3. At the end of the session we’ll have the chance to use a new tire to prepare for qualifying. It will be my first Superpole in Superbike and I’m excited about it; we’ll see how it goes. It’s a short session; it’s important to set a good time right from the start. We’ll try to secure the best possible position for Race 1."

In recent days he had set the top 5 as his goal for the Australian round and, after today’s work, he remains convinced he can achieve that kind of result over the weekend: "Yes, I confirm my goal. I think finishing in the top 5 is something realistic; we’ll see if we can get something more, but at the moment it seems very difficult. Conditions could change on Sunday; it will be interesting to see how we react and how the bike behaves. I’m relaxed." Finding more rear grip will certainly be key to having good races at Phillip Island.