Miguel Oliveira joins the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team

“Welcome to the family, Miguel,” were the words that confirmed Miguel Oliveira’s arrival at the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team. The Portuguese rider will line up alongside Italian Danilo Petrucci - who has also raced in MotoGP - and will bring the #88 to his new BMW M 1000 RR.

Miguel Oliveira moves from MotoGP to WorldSBK

After seven seasons in the MotoGP World Championship, Miguel Oliveira is now making the switch to the World Superbike Championship. In other words, he is leaving a series contested by genuine prototype motorcycles - Formula 1 on two wheels - for a championship built around production-based machinery. These are, therefore, models that remain very close to those available from a dealership.

However, the Portuguese rider’s new M 1000 RR is not “just” an S 1000 RR on steroids. This BMW is a homologation model whose road-going specification already delivers formidable figures: 218 bhp at 14,500 rpm, a top speed of 314 km/h, and carbon-fibre wings capable of producing 30 kg of downforce.

BMW M 1000 RR: race-spec performance

As expected, the competition version delivers even more extreme numbers than the “road” model, despite the restrictions imposed on Superbikes by the FIM.

Its overall weight falls to 168 kg, while output rises to an estimated 240 bhp. The biggest changes are found in the braking system and aerodynamic development. In MotoGP, the prototypes use carbon-ceramic brake discs.

In reality, the gap to MotoGP race machinery is far from enormous. It is measured in seconds per lap and, depending on the circuit, can be less than two seconds.

To make the comparison easier, we have prepared the following table:

Oliveira’s MotoGP record

The Almada-born rider leaves the MotoGP paddock after seven seasons in the premier class with an impressive record: two runner-up championships, in Moto3 and Moto2, as well as five MotoGP victories.

Those five wins carry particular significance: none came aboard the prototypes or while riding for dominant teams. Miguel Oliveira delivered the first victory in KTM Tech 3 history, while the Portuguese rider was also responsible for the KTM factory team’s most recent win.

Maverick Viñales, Brad Binder, Enea Bastianini and Pedro Acosta are among the grid’s most highly rated riders, yet they have still been unable to surpass the results achieved by the Portuguese Falcon on the Austrian motorcycle. It has now been three seasons…

The move from MotoGP to WorldSBK represents more than a change of championship. It is a shift in philosophy. On one side are prototypes created exclusively for racing; on the other are road-born machines converted into race motorcycles. As for the Portuguese rider’s philosophy, it remains unchanged: to win.