Danilo Petrucci insists Miguel Oliveira’s WorldSBK podiums don’t add “pressure”

Three podiums from three races at the Portuguese WorldSBK marked a strong weekend for Miguel Oliveira, but that doesn’t necessarily mean more pressure for his teammate.

Oliveira was much faster than Danilo Petrucci on the other side of the BMW World Superbike garage all weekend in Portimao, qualifying five places and almost 0.2 seconds faster in Superpole, then finishing over 10 seconds ahead of his teammate in Race 1, and almost 10 seconds ahead in the Superpole Race and Race 2.

Petrucci made steady improvements through the weekend, but even in Race 2 his best lap time was 0.8 seconds slower than Oliveira’s.

Despite the disparity between the two first-year BMW riders in Portugal, Petrucci says he is not under any additional “pressure” and that Oliveira’s performance is actually helpful for him.

“I’m so happy for Miguel [Oliveira] because he gave a boost of energy to the team and especially gave us really good information how to correctly ride the bike and this is good information for the future,” Petrucci told WorldSBK.com.

He added: “It has been great to see all the grandstands full, it has been incredible,” he said.

“It really makes me happy, even if I’m not Portuguese. 

“But at the end, it was sincerely a long time, since 2019, that I was sitting in the garage and my teammate was on the podium – back in MotoGP times. 

“It’s not more pressure, it’s a target; it means for us that the bike can be there, and next time maybe I will be there.”

Oliveira’s three podiums in Portimao were his first in World Superbike and came in only his second round since moving to the championship from MotoGP at the end of last year.

The Portuguese now sits fourth in the standings and 12 points behind Iker Lecuona in second, the Spaniard having finished second in all three Portimao encounters.

Petrucci, on the other hand, is without a dry weather top-six in 2026, and hasn’t finished on the podium since Race 1 at Donington last summer.