Miguel Praia

Miguel Praia (born 2 March 1978) is a retired Portuguese motorcycle racer. He now works on the broadcast team for MotoGP in Portugal.

Miguel Praia
NationalityPortuguese
Born (1978-03-02) 2 March 1978
Portalegre, Portugal
Motorcycle racing career statistics
250cc World Championship
Active years2003
ManufacturersYamaha
Championships0
2003 championship positionNC (0 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
1 0 0 0 0 0
Superbike World Championship
Active years2004–2005
ManufacturersDucati, Yamaha
Championships0
2013 championship position34th (3 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
40 0 0 0 0 11
Supersport World Championship
Active years2006–2013, 2015
ManufacturersHonda
Championships0
2015 championship position37th (1 pt)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
80 0 0 0 0 177

Career

Portuguese championships

Praia was born in Portalegre, Portugal. His first race was in 1994 at the age of 16 in a Yamaha TZR50. In 1997 he rode a full championship for the first time, finishing 3rd overall riding a Yamaha TZR125.

After the death of his Brother Alberto Praia (AKA Bacardi), he stopped racing, but later in 1999 he came back into the racing world with a Yamaha TZ125 for the Portuguese 125GP championship, having finished it in 6th place. Was considered the Best Rookie.

The year 2000 revealed a good year in the newly started Aprilia Challenge 125cc, with Miguel Praia ending most races in 1st place and setting lap records along the way, but a juries' decision at the last round, made him end the trophy in 2nd position.

In the following year, 2001, he decided to upscale into the 600cc category. Ended up in 8th position in Troféu Honda CBR600RR.

After a not-so-good entry in a supersport class, 2002 was a breakout year as he got full dedicated to motorcycle racing and set the best results ever. New lap records were set in most rounds, and as a result he became the champion of Troféu Honda CBR600RR 2002.

In 2003 the history repeated, and he took home again the champion's title for Troféu Honda CBR600RR. This year marked a change in his career with the decision of embracing a new and harder challenge: a world class championship.

Although he was already racing in Superbike World Championship, in 2005 at the end of the Portuguese Stocksport 1000 championship, decided to give it a try, and managed to win the last 2 races, on a Honda CBR1000RR he had never ridden.

European championships

In an attempt to get more and better experience from an international competition, in 2002 and 2003 Miguel Praia raced in European Supersport Championship, being always the best Portuguese racer.

World championships

By invitation of the Portuguese Government, Miguel Praia went racing in the Macau Grand Prix in 2002 and in 2003 finishing in 5th on the first year, and in 4th on the following. Also in 2003 he entered the Portuguese round of the MotoGP 250cc championship as a wildcard and finished 22nd.

The year 2004 was his starting point in full World class championships. He joined team NCR Ducati in the Superbike World Championship together with his teammate Garry McCoy. Being the number 2 in the team and a newcomer into the Superbikes world the championship did not go in the best direction, and what should have been a learning year in a Ducati 999RS and then a Ducati 998RS, became very disappointing one. He finished the championship in 30th place, but still was considered the Best Rookie.

New year, new team and a new motorcycle to learn from. A fresh start at DFX Extreme team with a Yamaha R1 in 2005, gave Praia a better introduction and stable learning ground and a lot of improvements in lap times came from this. Although with a lot of newcomers from other world championships into the Superbikes class, the results at the end of the championship seemed worst: 34th place.

He decided to give it a try at a lower class in 2006, the Supersport World Championship, but this time with a newcomer Portuguese team: Parkalgar Racing Team. Once again, the motorcycle changed. It was now time for Honda CBR600RR. Besides great expectations, the team was experiencing some problems in getting the right setups for the machine, and the year did not go so well any either. Praia had to abandon some races due to mechanical failures and ended up not learning as much as needed, retiring from the championship.

2007 became a learning year in the Supersport world class with Praia getting best lap times compared with the previous year' ones. But some new rivals from Superbikes and other world championships came into play, and although the races results were better, the final score in the table did not seemed to reveal that, he finished 34th.

New year comes and along new changes. In 2008 the Parkalgar Racing Team secured Factory Honda support and new Honda CBR600RR better shaped then the previous year's ones. The pre-season tests at Almería (Circuito de Almería) (in January) brought new and good expectations for the team, with Craig Jones (Praia's teammate) setting new lap record for this track and Miguel Praia going only less-than-a-second behind.

Career highlights

Career statistics

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pos Pts
2003 250cc Yamaha JPN RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR
22		 BRA PAC MAL AUS VAL NC 0

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
2004 Ducati SPA
13		 SPA
19		 AUS
16		 AUS
Ret		 SMR
DNQ		 SMR
DNQ		 ITA
Ret		 ITA
Ret		 GER
17		 GER
Ret		 GBR
14		 GBR
Ret		 USA
DNS		 USA
Ret		 EUR
Ret		 EUR
15		 NED
Ret		 NED
16		 ITA
Ret		 ITA
21		 FRA
18		 FRA
14		 30th 8
2005 Yamaha QAT
20		 QAT
18		 AUS
16		 AUS
14		 SPA
Ret		 SPA
Ret		 ITA
23		 ITA
Ret		 EUR
15		 EUR
Ret		 SMR
18		 SMR
16		 CZE
23		 CZE
21		 GBR
Ret		 GBR
Ret		 NED
21		 NED
19		 GER
16		 GER
18		 ITA ITA FRA FRA 34th 3

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts
2006 Honda QAT AUS SPA
20		 ITA
19		 EUR
23		 SMR
Ret		 CZE
Ret		 GBR
27		 NED
18		 GER
18		 ITA
Ret		 FRA
16		 NC 0
2007 Honda QAT
19		 AUS
24		 EUR
20		 SPA
21		 NED
Ret		 ITA
21		 GBR
11		 SMR
21		 CZE
Ret		 GBR
21		 GER
Ret		 ITA
Ret		 FRA
Ret		 34th 5
2008 Honda QAT
13		 AUS
21		 SPA
15		 NED
17		 ITA
Ret		 GER
13		 SMR
Ret		 CZE
Ret		 GBR
Ret		 EUR
Ret		 ITA
13		 FRA
Ret		 POR
12		 25th 14
2009 Honda AUS
Ret		 QAT
12		 SPA
18		 NED
Ret		 ITA
12		 RSA
16		 USA
12		 SMR
10		 GBR
Ret		 CZE
Ret		 GER
11		 ITA
9		 FRA
12		 POR
10		 15th 40
2010 Honda AUS
9		 POR
Ret		 SPA
12		 NED
10		 ITA
10		 RSA
10		 USA
14		 SMR
9		 CZE
7		 GBR
6		 GER
13		 ITA
Ret		 FRA
10		 12th 66
2011 Honda AUS
Ret		 EUR
11		 NED
8		 ITA
Ret		 SMR
12		 SPA
9		 CZE
Ret		 GBR
8		 GER
Ret		 ITA
8		 FRA
13		 POR
8		 13th 51
2012 Honda AUS ITA NED ITA EUR SMR SPA CZE GBR RUS GER
16		 POR
17		 FRA
22		 NC 0
2013 Honda AUS SPA NED ITA GBR POR
20		 ITA RUS GBR GER TUR FRA SPA NC 0
2015 Honda AUS THA SPA NED ITA GBR POR
15		 ITA MAL SPA FRA QAT 37th 1
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