The town of Obing in Upper Bavaria is home to just over 4,000 residents. There must be a hotbed of motorcycle racing talent somewhere there, because Obing is home to quite a few racers. Sepp Huber, Tex Geissler, Markus Ober, and Adi Stadler have all competed for points in the Motorcycle World Championship. And Markus Reiterberger is currently Germany’s hope for the Superbike World Championship as part of the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team.
The apple didn't fall far from the tree. His father, Thomas Reiterberger—known as Tom—has a career as a dirt track rider behind him. His mother, Anita, was also an avid motorcyclist. The father-son team worked together for a long time in the IDM as a mechanic-rider duo, but those days are long gone.
Tom Reiterberger has no role on the World Championship team. So he isn’t traveling with them, “because I don’t want to just stand around either.” Since the IDM season opener at the Lausitzring, that hasn’t been an option anyway. Reiterberger Sr. has once again traded his lederhosen, vest, hat, and gamsbart for a torque wrench, socket sets, and pliers. He was hired on the spot as a spectator by Pepijn Bijsterbosch (Team Dutch Comfort Houses) and will remain there until the end of the season. The Dutchman’s BMW S 1000 RR has already proven that it’s really fast. Two weeks ago, Bijsterbosch took third place on it in the second IDM Superbike 1000 race at Oschersleben.