Miguel Praia

Last updated
Miguel Praia
MiguelPraia17.jpg
NationalityPortuguese
Born (1978-03-02) 2 March 1978 (age 46)
Portalegre, Portugal
Motorcycle racing career statistics
250cc World Championship
Active years 2003
Manufacturers Yamaha
Championships 0
2003 championship positionNC (0 pts)
StartsWinsPodiums Poles F. laps Points
100000
Superbike World Championship
Active years 20042005
Manufacturers Ducati, Yamaha
Championships 0
2013 championship position34th (3 pts)
StartsWinsPodiums Poles F. laps Points
40000011
Supersport World Championship
Active years 20062013, 2015
Manufacturers Honda
Championships 0
2015 championship position37th (1 pt)
StartsWinsPodiums Poles F. laps Points
800000177

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

Contents

Career

Portuguese championships

Praia was born in Portalegre, Portugal. His first race was in 1994 at the age of 16 on 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, he stopped racing, but returned in 1999 riding a Yamaha TZ125 in the Portuguese 125GP championship, finishing in 6th place.

In 2000, Praia had a good year in the newly established Aprilia Challenge 125cc, ending most races in 1st place and setting several lap records, but a jury decision in the last round placed him in 2nd position overall.

In 2001, Praia moved up into the 600cc category. He finished in 8th position in Troféu Honda CBR600RR.

After a not outstanding year in a supersport class, 2002 was Praia's breakout year. He set new lap records in most rounds, and became champion for Troféu Honda CBR600RR 2002. In 2003 he repeated this achievement, winning the champion's title for Troféu Honda CBR600RR again.

In 2005, at the end of the Portuguese Stocksport 1000 championship, he entered the Superbike World Championship, winning the last two races on a Honda CBR1000RR he had never ridden before.

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, as the highest-performing Portuguese racer.

World championships

By invitation of the Portuguese Government, Miguel Praia participated in the Macau Grand Prix in 2002 and in 2003, finishing 5th and 4th respectively. In 2003 he entered the Portuguese round of the MotoGP 250cc championship as a wildcard and finished 22nd.

2004 was his first year in full World class championships. He joined team NCR Ducati in the Superbike World Championship along with his teammate Garry McCoy. As the number 2 in the team and a newcomer into the Superbikes world, Praia had a disappointing season, racing on a Ducati 999RS and then a Ducati 998RS. He finished the championship in 30th place.

He switched teams the following year to join DFX Extreme team with a Yamaha R1 in 2005, and saw much improvement in his lap times, but in a year with many newcomers from other world championships in the Superbikes class, his finishing placing dropped to 34th.

Praia switched to a lower class in 2006, the Supersport World Championship, but this time with a new Portuguese team, Parkalgar Racing Team, and riding a Honda CBR600RR. The team experiences some problems in getting the right setup for the machine, and the year did not go well; Praia had to abandon some races due to mechanical failures, and eventually retired from the championship.

In 2007, Praia made better lap times compared with the previous years, but more new rivals from Superbikes and other world championships also joined the championship, and his faster speeds were not reflected in the final standings, again finishing 34th.

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

Career highlights

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Races by year

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

YearClassBike12345678910111213141516PosPts
2003 250cc Yamaha JPN RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR
22
BRA PAC MAL AUS VAL NC0

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

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

YearBike123456789101112PosPts
R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2R1R2
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
30th8
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 34th3

Supersport World Championship

Races by year

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

YearBike1234567891011121314PosPts
2006 Honda QAT AUS SPA
20
ITA
19
EUR
23
SMR
Ret
CZE
Ret
GBR
27
NED
18
GER
18
ITA
Ret
FRA
16
NC0
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
34th5
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
25th14
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
15th40
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
12th66
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
13th51
2012 Honda AUS ITA NED ITA EUR SMR SPA CZE GBR RUS GER
16
POR
17
FRA
22
NC0
2013 Honda AUS SPA NED ITA GBR POR
20
ITA RUS GBR GER TUR FRA SPA NC0
2015 Honda AUS THA SPA NED ITA GBR POR
15
ITA MAL SPA FRA QAT 37th1

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