For IDM returnee Markus Reiterberger, racing at the Schleizer Dreieck is a special occasion. The three-time Superbike champion is now competing for Team BCC against his former team, EGS-alpha-Van Zon-BMW, with which he won his titles.
After Reiterberger left the IDM Superbike series in 2017, Ilya Mikhalchik took over as the team’s lead rider. However, both remained teammates through their additional roles on the BMW factory team in the FIM Endurance World Championship.
They’re now rivals in the IDM premier class. “But I have a good relationship with the team, and what Ilya does is his business. He’s riding a BMW M 1000 RR now; I’m still on the S 1000 RR. At the Red Bull Ring, I’m right up there with him. But I couldn’t have picked a better place than the Schleizer Dreieck for my return,” says the Bavarian. The 27-year-old explains: “I rode my scooter to Buchhübel yesterday, and everyone—really everyone—recognized me. And that’s even though I haven’t been here since 2017.” Reiterberger enjoys cult status in the Schleiz region. He has held the lap record on a BMW since 2013 with a speed of 158.30 km/h on the 3.805-kilometer-long temporary motorsport racetrack in Thuringia.
His father, Thomas Reiterberger, had been itching to get back to work for quite some time. Instead of working with Pepijn Bijsterbosch and EGS-alpha-Van Zon-BMW as he had been, he’s now working on his son’s bike. “He wanted to build a motorcycle for me himself so we could ride it somewhere,” Reiti said, “but who’s going to pay for that?” The fact that he’s teamed up with Team BCC from Heilbronn is a perfect fit.