BMW confirms Aragon WorldSBK replacements for Miguel Oliveira, Danilo Petrucci
BMW will be without both Miguel Oliveira and Danilo Petrucci for the upcoming Aragon WorldSBK.
The ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team has confirmed replacements for Miguel Oliveira and Danilo Petrucci ahead of the Aragon round.
With the two ex-MotoGP race winners sidelined by injuries, BMW has decided to call upon Michael Van Der Mark and Hannes Soomer.
Oliveira, who also missed the most recent Czech WorldSBK round at the Autodrom Most, is still recovering from multiple fractures he suffered at Balaton Park.
Meanwhile, Petrucci has been ruled out after a huge highside in Race 1 of the Czech round, which led to him missing both the Superpole Race and Race 2.
It means Van Der Mark will continue for the second race weekend in a row in place of Oliveira, while Soomer is returning to WorldSBK after more than three years to replace Petrucci.
Soomer’s last appearance in WorldSBK came in 2023 for the Petronas MIE Racing Honda Team.
Speaking about the decision to replace both riders, Head of BMW Motorrad Motorsport Sven Blusch said: “Of course, it is an extremely unfortunate situation for us that both regular riders of the team are sidelined through injury.
“At the same time, we are fortunate to be able to rely quickly and easily on strong replacement riders from within our BMW Motorrad factory rider family.
“Mickey already supported us very well at Most. On the other side of the garage, Hannes will now step in for Danilo. Hannes, who is also part of our endurance racing line-up, knows the BMW M 1000 RR extremely well.
“In addition, both riders completed the WorldSBK test at Misano for us last week. That means we are well prepared. However, the main focus right now is the recovery of Miguel and Danilo.
“We are in close contact with both riders. Miguel is making great progress, and his recovery process is developing exactly as expected.
“Danilo’s diagnosis is more recent, but he is also working intensively on his comeback. At this point, it is still unclear when we will see both riders back in action.
“There is no time pressure; the important thing is that nothing is rushed and that both riders are fully fit when they return to their BMW M 1000 RR machines.”
