Miguel Oliveira thinks Ducati should not be subject to any performance penalties in WorldSBK despite dominating the first two rounds.

Ducati has won all six races so far in 2026 in the hands of Nicolo Bulega, who leads the World Superbike riders’ standings by 56 points after two rounds – only six points short of a full race weekend worth of points.

The Italian was not in as commanding a position at round two in Portugal as he was at the opener in Australia, but he still led every lap and won every race by at least two seconds.

Bulega was also backed up by his new factory Ducati teammate Iker Lecuona who finished second in all three races. Barni Ducati’s Yari Montella qualified on the front row in Portugal, too, and was on the podium in Australia, as was Lorenzo Baldassarri for Goeleven, the latter battling through arm pump in Portugal to finish sixth in Race 2.

The first non-Ducati at Portimao was BMW’s Miguel Oliveira in each of the three races, taking a trio of third places.

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Oliveira was four seconds behind Bulega in Race 1, and then seven seconds back in Race 2. The Portuguese showed speed that was as fast as Toprak Razgatlioglu’s on the BMW at Portimao in 2025, but whereas Razgatlioglu took a trio of victories, Oliveira was never in touch with the winner at Portimao in 2026.

Ducati, of course, introduced a new generation of its Panigale V4 R for this season, but despite its unbeaten start and his own deficit to first place at Portimao, Oliveira says he does not want the Bologna factory to be hit with any kind of performance penalty in the form of an adjustment of the performance balancing rules which since last year have been centered on maximum permitted fuel flow rates.

“Without question, they deserve what they get out of it,” Oliveira said after Race 2 in Portimao, as reported by Speedweek.

“It’s a combination of the work they do at the factory and the team and the drivers. 

“I don’t think it needs any special adaptation, they are just doing their job – and that’s why they’re at the top. It’s also the case that they are not the only Ducati on the grid – there are many who finished behind me. 

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“We need to look at ourselves and not point the finger at others for their success. This is a world championship, we have to try to reduce our gap.”

The deficit to Ducati, Oliveira suggested, was about corner entry speed and then stability on corner exit.

“Our limitations that we had at the weekend, and where I feel that the competitors are a bit stronger, are the stability when the rear wheel slips and the speed when we turn into the corners,” he said. 

“In these areas we were at the limit, in other sections of the track I tried to compensate for that. 

“Saturday’s race was over five seconds faster than last year, I was just under half a second faster than last year’s winner, but that wasn’t enough. 

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“Our competitors have taken an extra step and we have to catch up.”