BMW has revealed its new livery for the 2026 WorldSBK season, bringing white back to the fairing of its factory bike.
The refresh of the livery, after two seasons in almost all-black, comes with a change of riders. Michael van der Mark and Toprak Razgatlioglu are out, and in come Miguel Oliveira and Danilo Petrucci.
The task of replacing Razgatlioglu in particular was a tough one for BMW to tackle in finding a replacement, and it will be a tough one for both Oliveira and Petrucci in 2026. Between them there are three WorldSBK wins, all Petrucci’s of course since ex-MotoGP rider Oliveira will be a class rookie this year; in comparison Razgatlioglu amassed 78 wins in his WorldSBK career which included 39 with BMW.
The preparation for such a demanding season has also been hampered by weather. In the 21–22 January test at Jerez, rain saw only a few hours of dry running on the afternoon of the second day. Testing is due to continue this week on 28–29 January at Portimao, but BMW have moved their team to Valencia to take part in a track day instead due to forecast bad weather in Portimao, as reported by GPOne.
Testing will continue next in Australia, where there is a test at Phillip Island on 16–17 February before the race there on 20–22 February.
Danilo Petrucci emphasised the importance of getting some more dry running in this winter before the season starts late next month.
“I’m so happy and proud to join the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team,” he said.
“It’s the team that has won the last championships and I’m so proud to be part of it. I can’t wait to race with this bike. We did a few tests, and in rainy conditions the situation is really good.
“We need to spend some time more in the dry because we didn’t have so much time in such conditions yet.
“For sure there is a lot of expectation but mainly I want to enjoy. I don’t have any particular result in mind. I just want to be as fast as I can and improve the results of my previous season.”
Miguel Oliveira added: “I’m excited for sure. I don’t know really what to expect. I know it‘s going to be a difficult, competitive environment through the whole grid.
“So my goal is to be up to that challenge and be as ready as I can to fight for top positions and make my adaptation as fast as possible, especially to have fun and to make the team enjoy the races.”
