Markus Reiterberger is a four-time IDM Superbike champion. He moved up to the World Championship, dominated the competition in Asia, and is now returning to his roots. The 31-year-old Bavarian from Obing, whom everyone calls "Reiti," is racing for Werner Daemen's BMW team in the EURO MOTO Superbike class, the upgraded successor to the IDM in Europe. In this interview, he explains his motivation and what drives him off the track.
You have won four Superbike titles in the International German Motorcycle Championship. What still drives you? Do you have something to prove?
In addition to my endurance racing commitments in the EWC, last year I was also a Superbike World Championship test rider for BMW for Toprak Razgatlioglu and Michael van der Mark. It was a very exciting and demanding job. But I have to be honest and say that I can and want to continue racing myself. Team boss Werner Daemen approached me about the EURO MOTO. I had been following the series and saw how dominant Lukas Tulovic was on the Ducati and how the BMWs had stumbled a bit. So I thought to myself that it was my job to put things right again.
Reiti and BMW are like a pot and its lid. Why have you never considered switching brands to prove yourself again?
I get that question a lot. The answer is relatively simple. I had the opportunity to switch several times and was close to doing so on several occasions. But what kept me at BMW time and again was the factory itself, but also everything that goes with it. My entire environment, my entire racing career has always revolved around BMW, Alpha Racing, and my collaboration with Werner Daemen. I would have lost all of that if I had changed brands. I am aware that I am only as strong as I am because I have these people around me. I have always enjoyed working with them, and in my opinion, racing is a team sport. I changed teams twice. That was in the Superbike World Championship, and I had really bad experiences. I swore to myself that I would never leave Werner's team again unless I really felt bad. I was recently faced with the decision again because I had a pretty good offer as a Superbike test rider from another manufacturer. But then BMW, Werner Daemen, and I put together a package for the World Endurance Championship as well as for EURO MOTO.
Lukas Tulovic will be looking to defend his Superbike title in the EURO MOTO on Ducati. Have you observed where you can beat him?
Wow, that's hard to say. I've never been there, I've only followed it online. I noticed that he was really strong, and I've also heard what his competitors have said. The package was very good, and the regulations were a little more favorable to Ducati than to the other manufacturers.
What do you think of how the series has developed in recent years?
The IDM and now EURO MOTO are really on the rise. If we look at who's taking part, there are some absolute top-class riders on the list. It's not like in 2017 or 2022, when I had one or two opponents. It's now comparable to 2014 and 2015, when we competed against the 3C-Carbon team with Xavier Forés, Lorenzo Lanzi, and Max Neukirchner at World Championship level. It's now a really exciting championship again, where you can really battle it out. Many people think I'm taking a step backwards by competing in EURO MOTO, but I don't see it that way. It's a European championship in extremely good shape.
"I was recently faced with a brand change, then BMW and Werner Daemen put together a good package for me."
You had moderate success in the Superbike World Championship. Have you put those results behind you?
It comes up every now and then. 2016 was the peak of my career, after I was stronger, faster, and fitter than ever in 2015. But I didn't stand a chance in the World Championship. In 2017, I repeated that with a larger crew and ended up in a mental dead end. Riding wasn't fun anymore. After three races, I quit and went back to the IDM. Honestly, you spend your whole life trying to get into the World Championship, and then everything is not at all what you thought it would be. You're just a number and you have to deal with what you're given. It wasn't like in the IDM or in the previous teams, where every detail was worked on and the bike was tailored exactly to you. It was just take it or leave it. Those were the circumstances at the time. It was also a small team with little factory support. That just wasn't enough.
In the Asia Road Racing Championship, you blew your opponents out of the water and were rewarded for your success. How did you invest the money?
I haven't received any money to date. What I haven't told anyone until now is that the whole thing escalated into a legal dispute, which we won. I raced there at the time because Alpha Racing was involved in the Asian team. They were looking for a strong rider who spoke German. I got a good contract. It was prize money-based, so heavily dependent on success, with a low base salary. With the support of BMW and Alpha Racing, it always worked out, but the team boss cheated me out of the prize money. He disappeared for a while, but was found and is now supposed to pay up. Nevertheless, I'm not yet confident that it will happen.
When did you last compete in a Superbike race?
In September 2024, with the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, replacing the injured Toprak Razgatlioglu. I finished 14th and 15th in Cremona.
Is it true that you took over Ralf Waldmann's tuning business?
As neighbors, we spent a lot of time working on Kreidler motorcycles together at his place and ours. When he passed away, I added his range to mine and built up a second source of income alongside racing. For me, it was clear that the whole thing had to live on. Since then, I've been tuning mopeds, restoring and tuning mainly two-stroke engines, Kreidlers and everything else there is. Or racing exhausts that are tested on the test bench and are officially approved for use on the road by the TÜV. Together with my father, I renovated our old farm and built a workshop. My third mainstay is CNC milling. I bought the machine for this a few years ago. That's what my work involves besides racing.
Could you make a living from it?
That keeps me so busy that I can hardly manage it on my own. Yes, I could make a living from it. That security for the future was also important to me. I'm not dependent on racing. Because my parents always said, you'll finish school. You'll do an apprenticeship. I did all that and became a motorcycle mechanic. I didn't want to be the racer who ends up broke and with nothing.
You started a small family two years ago. How has your life changed since Valentina was born?
I had to reorganize my time. Because I was already relatively busy with two, or rather three, jobs. Then came the farm renovation and the house construction. I try to organize my day so that I either work the early or late shift, or both. Because I'm self-employed, it's quite easy to organize. But I find it hard to be away from my two girls at home and do everything I can to spend a few hours with them every day. I want to be home for dinner, and Sunday has become a family day.
Does Valentina have a rocking horse or a rocking motorcycle?
Both. I also have a small paddock moped. I built a tank pad on the tank and a footrest system underneath. So we ride the 50cc bike to the donkeys and sheep at our lake, which she loves so much, buy some chocolate ice cream, and ride back home.
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