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 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.

By invitation of the Portuguese Government, Miguel Praia participated in the Macau Grand Prix in 2002 and in 2003, finishing 5th and 4th respectively.

He joined team NCR Ducati in the Superbike World Championship along with his teammate Garry McCoy.

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.