Miguel Oliveira revealed he was proud to secure three Portimao WorldSBK podiums in front of his home crowd.
Oliveira started a new chapter after moving from Pramac Yamaha in MotoGP to BMW in WorldSBK in 2026, in what proved to be a straight swap with departing champion Toprak Razgatlioglu.
The 31-year-old entered his home race in the Algarve and secured three third-place finishes, his first time on the rostrum since winning in Thailand with KTM.
On WorldSBK’s famed podium setup that’s renowned for being extremely close up to the fans, the BMW rider stated to media including Motorsport Week: “It’s just amazing to see all the guys here, and this is also for them a little bit to try to get some reward after some long seasons not being able to see me on the box here.
“Having the podium on the paddock is special because they’re just right there.
“And that makes, I guess, if I were a fan, to see a guy that close to me, for sure, is fantastic. So I can only imagine how they feel.
“It was just an incredible weekend, with the really unique support I’ve had in such a short time as well.”
The Portuguese faithful came out strong for the Alameda-born rider, with attendance figures at 82k, the highest WorldSBK Portimao attendance figure since 2015.
Upon hearing the stat, Oliveira said it likely stems from becoming Portugal’s first premier-class rider and that his results are what his fans “deserve”.
“You know, I had my goodbyes here in November from MotoGP, and to have such a good turnout here.
“It shows that the community now stops subscribing to MotoGP, and they subscribe to the Superbike, which makes me happy, makes me proud, especially because I could give them a good result, and they deserve it for sure.
“It’s a funny fact, because, as you know, I’m the only Portuguese rider to ever go to MotoGP, and I think this make the lights shine a lot on the championship because of me.
“And as I got out, they, some of them, I think, they watch it, but, obviously, they want to support their rider, and it’s probably something that doesn’t happen with other nationalities, because they are a little bit more spread out.
“But for me, it’s quite unique, and, yeah, I’m happy for that.”
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