The Portuguese public cheered Miguel Oliveira, known as the “falcon”, in gratitude.

Before heading to the Superbike championship in 2026, the Almada rider received a standing ovation from fans and riders on the home straight of the Algarve International Circuit, the venue for this 21st and penultimate round of the season in the premier class of motorcycle racing.

Miguel Oliveira was competing in his seventh season in MotoGP, with a move to the World Superbike Championship from 2026 with BMW already planned, and his wife and daughter were present on the grid to greet him and hand him the Portuguese national flag.

The ceremony began with several parachutists descending, carrying the Portuguese flag, making way for a huge Portuguese caravel to enter the track.

The Portuguese rider started from 19th place on the starting grid, having failed to qualify for the second phase on Saturday, while Italian Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) started from pole position.

Oliveira has already competed in 116 MotoGP races, with five wins (Styria, Algarve, Catalonia, Indonesia and Thailand), seven podiums and one pole position, precisely in the year of his victory in Portimão in 2020.

Politicians’ reactions

Presidential candidate Luís Marques Mendes took a break from his pre-campaign to “thank Miguel” at the Algarve racetrack for the prestige he has brought to Portugal as a motorcycle racer, he told Lusa.

“Miguel [Oliveira] has done a lot for the country's name and brought prestige to Portugal, so we owe him our gratitude in an area of sport where we do not have a great tradition,” said Marques Mendes on arriving at the Algarve International Racetrack in Portimão.

Speaking to the Lusa news agency, the presidential candidate confided that he had no campaign commitments today, “not least because I had already agreed with Miguel that I would be there” for his MotoGP farewell.

“I could not be there on Saturday [8 November], as I would have liked, but today I came here to give him a hug, because I have a lot of admiration for him, we are friends and he is my representative for youth and sport,’ he said.