Miguel Oliveira ninth after opening Hungarian World Superbikes practice

Miguel Oliveira ninth after opening Hungarian World Superbikes practice

Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira (BMW) ended the opening day of free practice for the Hungarian round of the World Superbikes Championship, the fourth event of the season, in ninth place.

The Almada-born rider set his quickest lap in 1.39,684 minutes, 0,824 seconds behind pace-setter Iker Lecuona (Ducati). For the first time this season, the Spaniard outpaced his Italian team-mate Nicolo Bulega (Ducati), by 0,103, while Britain’s Sam Lowes (Ducati) was third, 0,141 off the lead.

Stronger afternoon lap for the BMW rider

Oliveira had placed seventh in the morning session, when he recorded a 1.40,593 lap. Although the BMW rider found almost a second in the afternoon, he slipped two positions after being overtaken by Yari Montella (Ducati) and Alvaro Bautista (Ducati).

It was the first time this season that Bulega had been beaten, and it happened twice.

BMW used this event to introduce a slightly revised fairing for the weekend, adding winglets to its lower section, while also working on the electronic settings.

Superpole and first race scheduled for Saturday

Saturday’s programme includes the qualifying session, known as Superpole, followed in the afternoon by the first of the weekend’s two main races.