WorldSBK season finale with emotional farewell to “Petrux”.
Jerez de la Frontera. The season finale of the FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) was an emotional occasion for BMW Motorrad Motorsport, marking a heartfelt farewell. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) contested his final races on the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team #9 BMW M 1000 RR in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. On Saturday evening, “Petrux” was honoured by the team and the fans as everyone gathered on the main stage of the WorldSBK Paddock Show to bid an emotional farewell to the popular fan favourite with heartfelt words.
From a sporting perspective, the final race weekend of the 2026 season proved challenging. Miguel Oliveira (POR) had to retire from Saturday’s opening race due to a technical issue. In Sunday morning’s Superpole Race, he crossed the finish line in eleventh place. In Sunday afternoon’s second feature race, Oliveira made it into the top ten. His tenth-place finish earned valuable points, securing third place for BMW in the Manufacturers’ World Championship. In his final WorldSBK races on the BMW M 1000 RR, Petrucci finished 17th, 19th and 20th.
Reactions after the season finale at Jerez de la Frontera.
Sven Blusch, Head of BMW Motorrad Motorsport: “Our WorldSBK season comes to an end after an emotional rollercoaster. We look back on some fantastic podium finishes, but also on the serious injuries sustained by Miguel and Danilo, which had a massive impact on the course of the season. Our focus now shifts to next year, when we will race with Miguel and our new signing, Brad Binder. At the same time, we would like to thank Danilo. He is a true fighter who never gave up until the very end and always gave his full commitment. It is a shame that we were not as successful together in WorldSBK as we had hoped. But we are all racers and know that these things can happen. He will always remain part of our family – Grazie, Danilo!“
Christian Gonschor, Technical Director BMW Motorrad Motorsport: “2026 was a season of highs and lows for us. We celebrated podium finishes, but also had to overcome setbacks and, at times, compete without both of our injured factory riders. Although we did not achieve our goal of winning races, our performance was often better than the results suggest. In many races, we were faster than in 2025. This underlines the potential of our overall package and the intensive development work carried out by the entire team. At the same time, we know that speed alone is not enough. Our task is to consistently translate this performance into results in the future. The lessons learned from this challenging season and the team’s unwavering fighting spirit give us confidence for 2027. With a new bike and new regulations, new opportunities will arise. My thanks go to my family and to everyone who works with passion on this project every day.“
Danilo Petrucci, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “I’m really, really happy. I just want to say thank you to BMW. For me, it’s been a dream to race with the biggest factory in Europe. The outcome hasn’t been as good as we all had hoped for, but everyone gave their best. I’m so proud of what we did. I just want to say thank you to everyone. I don’t have many words, but I’m really, really happy.”
Miguel Oliveira, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: “We leave Jerez on a positive note, because we tried something today that was very positive for race two. The weekend was already compromised with qualifying issues, and we couldn’t get the bike further up the grid. Not finishing yesterday was also frustrating. But today we improved, and I’m happy with that. I’m also very excited to start winter testing. I can’t wait to get back on the bike and to start working with the crew again for next season. I also want to say thank you to Danilo for all his effort this season. He was a great teammate and a great person, and we’ll definitely miss him.”
Facts and figures.
Superpole.
Air temperature: 25°, track temperature: 30°, humidity: 65%, conditions: dry.
Pos. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Time |
1. | Nicolò Bulega (ITA) | Aruba.it Racing - Ducati | Ducati | 1:36.643 |
2. | Sam Lowes (GBR) | Elf Marc VDS Racing Team | Ducati | 1:36.960 |
3. | Iker Lecuona (ESP) | Aruba.it Racing - Ducati | Ducati | 1:37.098 |
4. | Yari Montella (ITA) | Barni Spark Racing Team | Ducati | 1:37.381 |
5. | Alex Lowes (GBR) | Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team | Bimota | 1:37.443 |
13. | Miguel Oliveira (POR) | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 1:38.312 |
15. | Danilo Petrucci (ITA) | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 1:38.392 |
Race 1.
Air temperature: 26°, track temperature: 38°, humidity: 64%, conditions: dry, laps: 20.
Pos. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Gap |
1. | Nicolò Bulega (ITA) | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati | Ducati | - |
2. | Sam Lowes (GBR) | Elf Marc VDS Racing Team | Ducati | 1.657 |
3. | Iker Lecuona (ESP) | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati | Ducati | 2.853 |
4. | Álvaro Bautista (ESP) | Barni Spark Racing Team | Ducati | 5.328 |
5. | Yari Montella (ITA) | Barni Spark Racing Team | Ducati | 6.615 |
17. | Danilo Petrucci (ITA) | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 31.457 |
DNF | Miguel Oliveira (POR) | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | - |
Fastest race lap: Nicolò Bulega, lap 2, 1:38.195
Superpole Race.
Air temperature: 21°, track temperature: 25°, humidity: 71%, conditions: dry, laps: 10.
Pos. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Gap |
1. | Nicolò Bulega (ITA) | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati | Ducati | - |
2. | Iker Lecuona (ESP) | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati | Ducati | 0.797 |
3. | Sam Lowes (GBR) | Elf Marc VDS Racing Team | Ducati | 8.350 |
4. | Yari Montella (ITA) | Barni Spark Racing Team | Ducati | 6.465 |
5. | Alex Lowes (GBR) | Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team | Bimota | 9.292 |
11. | Miguel Oliveira (POR) | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 15.714 |
19. | Danilo Petrucci (ITA) | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 23.890 |
Fastest race lap: Nicolò Bulega, lap 3, 1:37.196 (new record)
Race 2.
Air temperature: 24°, track temperature: 30°, humidity: 62%, conditions: dry, later drops of rain, laps: 20.
Pos. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Gap |
1. | Nicolò Bulega (ITA) | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati | Ducati | - |
2. | Iker Lecuona (ESP) | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati | Ducati | 4.696 |
3. | Sam Lowes (GBR) | Elf Marc VDS Racing Team | Ducati | 13.349 |
4. | Álvaro Bautista (ESP) | Barni Spark Racing Team | Ducati | 14.928 |
5. | Yari Montella (ITA) | Barni Spark Racing Team | Ducati | 17.192 |
10. | Miguel Oliveira (POR) | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 28.002 |
20. | Danilo Petrucci (ITA) | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 47.825 |
Fastest race lap: Nicolò Bulega, lap 2, 1:37.573
Final riders’ classification (R12/12, after 36 of 36 races).
Pos. | Rider | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
1. | Nicolò Bulega (ITA) | Aruba.it Racing - Ducati | Ducati | 726 |
2. | Iker Lecuona (ESP) | Aruba.it Racing - Ducati | Ducati | 563 (-163) |
3. | Yari Montella (ITA) | Barni Spark Racing Team | Ducati | 318 (-245) |
4. | Sam Lowes (GBR) | ELF Marc VDS Racing Team | Ducati | 268 (-458) |
5. | Alex Lowes (GBR) | Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team | Bimota | 259 (-467) |
11. | Miguel Oliveira (POR) | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 142 (-584) |
17. | Danilo Petrucci (ITA) | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 61 (-665) |
20. | Michael van der Mark (NED) | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 23 (-703) |
Final manufacturers’ classification (R12/12, after 36 of 36 races).
Pos. | Manufacturer | Points |
1. | Ducati | 744 |
2. | Bimota | 316 (-428) |
3. | BMW | 184 (-560) |
4. | Yamaha | 183 (-561) |
5. | Kawasaki | 165 (-579) |
6. | Honda | 64 (-680) |