Miguel Oliveira returned to the podium at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve by finishing the second race of the 2026 World Superbikes weekend in third position, repeating the result achieved in both the Saturday race and the Superpole Race held on Sunday morning. The Portuguese driver thus confirmed a very positive start to the season in front of the national public, only surpassed by the dominance of the official Ducatis.
As had already happened in the other races of the Portuguese round, the victory once again belonged to the Italian Nicolò Bulega, who once again led a podium completed by his teammate Iker Lecuona, second placed. The Spaniard and the Italian confirmed the superiority of the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team at the start of the championship, adding another double in Portimão.
Oliveira started from third position, but momentarily lost ground in the initial phase of the race, ending up stabilizing in third place after the first few laps.. From then on, he focused on defending his position in the face of pressure from Alex Lowes, who drove for much of the race very close to the Portuguese driver’s BMW. Despite the reduced difference between the two, the British driver never managed to make any clear attempt to overtake, allowing “Falcão” to secure yet another consistent podium at home.
Throughout the Algarve weekend, only the official Ducatis demonstrated a pace clearly superior to that of the Portuguese riderwith Bulega maintaining a perfect sequence of victories in the races already contested this season. The Italian’s dominance is also confirmed in the general classification of the championship, where he leads prominently after the first rounds of the year.
With the results obtained in Portimão, Miguel Oliveira rose several positions in the championship table and rose to fourth place in the pilots’ classificationreinforcing the immediate impact of his debut with BMW in the Superbike World Championship.
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