SBK: Miguel Oliveira assesses the BMW and asks for time: the gap is 'acceptable' for now

Oliveira spoke after the Superbike test in Jerez: he needs more time on the BMW M 1000 RR before he can be competitive.

There was a lot of curiosity to see BMW’s new riders back in action at the first SBK test of 2026. Danilo Petrucci and Miguel Oliveira had already tried the M 1000 RR in November, but they come from different backgrounds and need to rack up a good number of kilometers to better understand the new bike and be fast. Unfortunately, conditions in Jerez were not ideal. On the first day they only rode in the wet, while on the second there were about two hours available with a dry track. Well, semi-dry, given there were some damp patches on the asphalt.

If on day 1 BMW had Petrucci in first place and Oliveira in third, on day 2 things went differently. The best M 1000 RR was the tester Michael van der Mark’s, fifth at 505 thousandths from leader Nicolò Bulega. As for the factory riders, Oliveira finished with the twelfth fastest time (+1.116, 23 laps total) and Petrux seventeenth (+1.492, 19 laps total). It’s too early to sound the alarm, considering the particular conditions of the Superbike test in Jerez.

The Portuguese rider is taking his first steps in the SBK world and doesn’t want to put too much pressure on himself in this initial learning phase: "It was the first test of the year after the winter break and obviously there were big expectations for these two days, to get to know the bike and the team better. I think we managed that, we achieved another goal, namely solving some issues and also getting to know each other better, and this is the way forward. We know we need more time, but at the same time there are a lot of expectations. Now we just need to be patient and get the best result possible in this short period of time."

The former MotoGP rider would have liked to put in more dry laps to better understand the BMW M 1000 RR and the Pirelli tires, but in the end he isn’t negative about what was done in Andalusia: "We were able to test in the dry," he told Speedweek, "but not as much as we hoped. I worked on understanding the bike and the tires better. The situation improved stint by stint. I ended the day with an acceptable gap. It was a test; we still have a long way to go."

Oliveira has a rational approach; he knows he must not rush, especially until he can ride in more normal conditions than those over the two days in Jerez. He comes from MotoGP and is facing radical changes; time is needed to adapt and put together a competitive package. The ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team is a high-level structure and will certainly find a way to put him and Petrucci in the ideal situation to aim for positive results.