Miguel Oliveira finished fourth in Race 1 at Estoril, delivering BMW’s target of a top-five result after a difficult run of WorldSBK rounds. The BMW rider made an early move past Alex Lowes, but could not get within one second of Alberto Surra, who held third place. Oliveira considered his pace good enough to be encouraged by, although he also acknowledged making several mistakes during the race.

A podium in Sunday’s two races is the next objective, but Oliveira describes it as a major challenge. The Superpole Race comes first, followed by the two main contests. Lowes is one of the immediate obstacles: Oliveira regards him as particularly fast at Estoril and says BMW must be operating at its best to fight for more than fourth place.

The result points to progress after BMW’s difficult recent races, but the gap at the front remains substantial. Oliveira says the factory Ducatis are still much faster, making a podium challenge at Estoril especially demanding even with the improvements made to his BMW.

Changes behind the improvement

Oliveira links part of his recent speed increase to changes in his riding position and other work on the motorcycle. That process began at Cremona, while the base setup has gradually improved. At Estoril he completed a solid race with a consistent pace, giving him a more positive reference for the rest of the weekend. The performance also offers a useful contrast with his home WorldSBK round in March, where he stood on the podium in all three races.