BMW in Cremona with a new swingarm: What Miguel Oliveira hopes to gain from it

Miguel Oliveira gave a positive assessment following Friday’s practice sessions at the Superbike World Championship in Cremona. The BMW works rider finished 9th in the combined standings for both practice sessions, making him the second-fastest non-Ducati rider. He was 0.814 seconds off the fastest time set by Aruba rider Iker Lecuona.

“It was a positive day because we managed to establish a good foundation,” said Oliveira in an exclusive interview with SPEEDWEEK.com on Friday evening. “We didn’t change much in the set-up between the morning and the afternoon. However, we worked intensively on the electronics and tweaked a few things.”

Tyre experiment prevented a faster lap time

The Portuguese rider felt a faster single lap was possible, but an attempt towards the end of FP2 did not bring the hoped-for improvement. “I finished the session feeling I could have been three or four tenths of a second faster. But at the end, we tried another tyre. That didn’t pay off, though. We’re happy with the day. My race pace isn’t too bad.”

Oliveira also put his deficit into perspective against the backdrop of the season so far: “If we look at the two Ducatis at the front, we’re six to eight tenths of a second off the pace on every track. If everything goes well here, I should be a bit closer. But I think I’ll be half a second off the pace.”

Nevertheless, he didn’t want to rule out a chance of a podium finish after Friday. “We weren’t that far off today. In terms of race pace, we were in the top five, maybe even the top four. But anything more than that will be difficult. On the other hand, it was only Friday and we still have room for improvement.”

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For Oliveira, the starting position will be crucial to begin with. “Superpole is important. For various reasons, we weren’t that strong in qualifying. I hope we can find a good set-up in FP3 with the SCQ tyre and then put in a good lap in Superpole to be as far up the grid as possible.”

What BMW is aiming for with the new swingarm

BMW also has a new swingarm available at Cremona. “We’ve homologated the new swingarm. BMW decided to use this development straight away. The test team has been working intensively on it. It’s good that we have this option. I’m pleased that a lot is being done to optimise the package,” explained Oliveira.

BMW homologierte eine neue Schwinge

Foto: Gold & Goose

He cannot yet quantify exactly how much of an impact the new component will have. “It’s difficult to say when you’re starting with it straight away and don’t have a direct comparison. But I know from experience that swingarms don’t make a difference of a second or half a second. I do hope, however, that the new swingarm will help us to be more consistent. That’s the direction we’re heading in with this swingarm.”