Petrucci and Oliveira agree: MotoGP riders are experiencing a resurgence

Seven of the 22 regular riders in the 2026 Superbike World Championship previously competed in MotoGP: Miguel Oliveira, Danilo Petrucci, Iker Lecuona, Álvaro Bautista, Somkiat Chantra, Remy Gardner and Sam Lowes, although some of them only did so for a single season. Next year, three current MotoGP riders – Franco Morbidelli, Brad Binder and Jack Miller – will be moving to the factory teams of Ducati, BMW and Yamaha respectively in the production-based World Superbike Championship.

What advice can MotoGP winners Oliveira and Petrucci – both under contract with Team ROKiT BMW this season – offer the future World Superbike Championship riders? “Good luck,” laughed the Portuguese rider during a meeting with SPEEDWEEK.com. Danilo added: “They’ll have to do well; it’s not as easy as it looks. Things might have been different in the past; a few things will change with the new tyres (from Michelin instead of Pirelli – the author). They’ve all won races, but so have Miguel and I. Riders like Lecuona or the Lowes twins are also very fast. There are plenty of riders who’ll never compete in MotoGP, but who are very good. I ended my MotoGP career whilst riding alongside Lecuona, and we were practically on our last legs. Our job isn’t that easy when you jump on a motorbike and compete against the best in the world. It’s difficult because there are so many good riders.”

MotoGP is no guarantee of Superbike success

Only six riders who moved from the premier class – formerly 500cc, now MotoGP – to the World Superbike Championship went on to become champions there: Raymond Roche (1990), John Kocinski (1997), Max Biaggi (2010, 2012), Carlos Checa (2011), Sylvain Guintoli (2014) and Álvaro Bautista (2022, 2023). This underlines the fact that success is by no means a foregone conclusion.

As the MotoGP season runs until 29 November, Morbidelli, Binder and Miller will not be able to complete their first Superbike test until December. The test is scheduled to take place at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia on 9–10 December.

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