SBK: “The EURO MOTO is an awesome series full of close battles”

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 after all. The 31-year-old Bavarian from Obing, whom everyone calls “Reiti,” will race for Werner Daemen’s BMW team in the EURO MOTO Superbike class, the upgraded European successor to the IDM. In this interview, he explains his motivation and what drives him off the track as well.

You’ve 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 races in the EWC, I was also a Superbike World Championship test rider for BMW last year, working with Toprak Razgatlioglu and Michael van der Mark. That was a very exciting and challenging job. But I have to be honest and say that I, too, can and want to keep racing. As for the EURO MOTO, team boss Werner Daemen approached me. I’d been following the series and saw how dominant Lukas Tulovic was on the Ducati and how the BMWs had fallen a bit behind. So I thought to myself, it’s my job to get things back on track.

Reiti and BMW are like a pot and its lid. Why have you never considered switching brands to prove yourself all over again?
I get asked that question quite often. The answer is relatively simple. I’ve had the opportunity to switch several times and was even on the verge of doing so on several occasions. But what kept me at BMW time and again was the factory itself, as well as everything that goes along with it. My entire circle, 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’d switched brands. I realize that I’m only as strong as I am because I have these people around me. I’ve always enjoyed working with them, and in my opinion, racing is a team sport. I’ve switched teams twice. That was in the Superbike World Championship, and I had some really bad experiences. That’s when I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t leave Werner’s team for anywhere else unless I really felt like I had to. I was faced with that decision again just recently, because I had a pretty good offer to be a Superbike test rider for another manufacturer. But then BMW, Werner Daemen, and I put together a package for both the Endurance World Championship and the EURO MOTO.

Lukas Tulovic will be looking to defend his Superbike title in the EURO MOTO on a Ducati. Have you been watching to see where you can beat him?
Wow, that’s hard to say. I’ve never been there in person; I’ve only followed it online. I noticed that he was incredibly strong, and I’ve also heard what his competitors have said. The bike was very well-rounded, and the rules favored Ducati a bit more than they did the other manufacturers.

What do you think of how the series has developed in recent years?
The IDM—now known as EURO MOTO—is really on the rise. If we look at who’s competing, there are some absolute top-tier riders on the list. It’s not like in 2017 or 2022, when I only had one or two rivals. Now it’s back to being comparable to 2014 and 2015, when we were racing at World Championship level against the 3C-Carbon team with Xavier Forés, Lorenzo Lanzi, and Max Neukirchner. It’s a really exciting championship again now, where you can really battle it out. A lot of people think I’m taking a step backward by competing in EURO MOTO, but I don’t see it that way. It’s a European championship that’s in extremely good shape.

"I was recently considering switching brands, but then BMW and Werner Daemen put together a great deal for me."

You had mixed 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 before in 2015. But I didn’t stand a chance in the World Championship. In 2017, I tried again with a larger team and hit a mental wall. Riding wasn’t fun anymore. After three races, I quit and went back to the IDM. Honestly: You spend your whole life trying to make it to the World Championship, and then it turns out nothing is the way you thought it would be. You’re just a number and have to make do with whatever you’re given. It wasn’t like in the IDM or in my previous teams, where every detail was worked on or the bike was tailored exactly to you. There, it was just: take it or leave it. Those were the circumstances back then. It was also just a small team with little factory support. That just wasn’t enough.

In the Asia Road Racing Championship, you completely outclassed your opponents and were paid based on your performance. How did you invest that money?
I haven’t received any money to this day. What I haven’t told anyone until now: The whole thing escalated into a legal dispute, which we won. I raced there back then because Alpha Racing was involved with that Asian team. They were looking for a strong driver who, ideally, spoke German. I got a good contract—based on prize money, so heavily performance-based, with a small base salary. With the support of BMW and Alpha Racing, things always worked out, but the team boss kept delaying payment of the prize money. At one point he went missing, but he was found and is now supposed to pay up. Still, I’m not yet confident that this will actually happen.

When did you race your last Superbike race?
In September 2024 with the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team as a replacement for 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 used to work on Kreidler motorcycles together at his place and at ours. When he passed away, I added his inventory to mine and used it to build 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 doing moped tuning, restorations, and tuning—mainly for two-stroke engines, Kreidlers, and whatever else is out there. Or racing exhaust systems that are tested on the dynamometer and are officially TÜV-approved for street use. Together with my father, I renovated our old farm and built a workshop. My third source of income is CNC milling. I bought the machine for that a few years ago. That’s what I do besides racing.



Could you make a living doing that?
That keeps me so busy that I can hardly manage it on my own. Yeah, I could make a living off of it. That sense of security for the future was important to me, too. I’m not dependent on racing. Because my parents always said, “You’re going to finish high school. You’re going to do an apprenticeship.” I did all that and became a motorcycle mechanic. I didn’t want to be the kind of racer who ends up screwed over at some point and is left with nothing.

You started a small family two years ago. How has your life changed since Valentina was born?
I had to reorganize my schedule. Because I was already pretty busy with two—or rather, three—jobs. Then the farm renovation and building our house came on top of that. I try to structure my day so that I work either the early or late shift—or both. Since I’m self-employed, it’s pretty easy to manage. But I find it hard to be away from my two girls at home, so I 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 day dedicated entirely to the family.

Does Valentina have a rocking horse or a rocking motorcycle?
Both. I also have a little paddock moped. I built a tank pad on the gas tank and a set of footrests underneath it. So we ride the 50cc moped out to see the donkeys and sheep by our lake—which she loves so much—buy ourselves a chocolate ice cream, and ride back home.

EURO MOTO 2026: GET YOUR TICKETS NOW

New Year's Eve Highlights: Amazing Trips, Plenty of Food, Hardly Any Fireworks

Happy New Year! But how do our EURO MOTO riders actually celebrate the New Year? We spontaneously asked around during the countdown to 2026 and were quite surprised by what we heard.

Markus “Reiti” Reiterberger is kept busy on the last day of the year. “We buddies traditionally go on our Kreidler riders’ trip to Obing. We’re heading to a friend of mine’s place. He has a carpentry shop, and we’ll hang out there, drink that Bavarian staple, and eat ‘Weisswürscht.’ In the afternoon, we go for another little ride on the moped—no matter what the weather’s like. In the evening, I celebrate New Year’s Eve with my little family. We set off some kids’ fireworks. For dinner, we make raclette. I’m not really sure what you can put in it, but there’s a lot.” Reiterberger and his partner have been parents to little Valentina for two years.

Daniel Rubin was heading really far away—all the way to Chile, where part of his girlfriend’s family lives. “On New Year’s Eve, we’re in Viña del Mar, where there’s a huge fireworks display over the ocean. The family has an apartment where we’ll all celebrate, eat, and drink together. For example, pastel de choclo and pisco sour.” The former is a corn casserole, and the latter is a cocktail made with grape brandy.

Superbike runner-up Forian Alt is ringing in the New Year about 12,000 kilometers away from home as the crow flies, but he won’t be seeing Daniel Rubin. That’s because the Honda star has flown to Indonesia in Asia instead of to Chile in South America. He has already spent the night in the jungle on the world’s largest archipelago. He’ll be ringing in the New Year in Medan with his wife, Kimberly. The city is located on the island of Sumatra, more specifically in the northeast of the island. By the time we ring in the New Year here in Germany, it will have already happened in Indonesia. The time difference is seven hours ahead.

Two-time Supersport Andreas Kofler is keeping it in the family. “We’re celebrating in a very small group with our parents. And my brother’s girlfriend will be there, too. We’ll have raclette and maybe play a few board games together. Nothing special, but nice.”

Christof “Fifty” Höfer sends his regards from southern Europe. He’s in Spain—in Andalusia, to be exact—not far from the Tabernas Desert. He’s staying with his Race Camp participants on a gorgeous sandy beach and is celebrating at the hotel’s Irish pub as part of the Bike Promotion events. “It’s a mix of people—some of whom you didn’t even know before, and others you’ve known for what feels like an eternity. You really can’t help but feel at home.”

For the Orgis family—including brothers Leon and Kevin —the New Year’s Eve celebrations are a quiet affair. That’s because “Edgar” is the boss of the house. The family dog can’t stand firecrackers or fireworks at all. So things tend to stay pretty quiet. As is tradition, they pass the time until midnight eating raclette until everyone is full.

Meat and vegetables cooked in small pans are also served at the home of Dresden’s super-athlete Lennox Lehmann. Anyone familiar with this Saxon whirlwind might expect a wild—or at least lively—party. But think again. Lehmann Jr. is staying home, completely relaxed.

Superbiker Marco Fetz and his girlfriend became the proud owners of their own home earlier this year. And now they’re throwing a housewarming party with eight friends. What’s on the menu? You get one guess: raclette.

Under the Spanish sun, Patrick “Pax” Hobelsberger is really letting loose. But only in a figurative sense. “There are quite a few dogs in Almería, and people don’t make much noise there. We have ours with us, too. Never without him! So there won’t be any major special effects. I don’t know yet what we’ll be eating, but it should give us energy, because my first road bike training session is scheduled for January 1, 2026.”

Pro Superstock rider Paul Fröde is a repeat offender when it comes to ringing in the New Year with his girlfriend and friends at a small venue in Chemnitz. “There are about 15 of us. We’ll have a little music to set the mood. I won’t be setting off many fireworks—that’s not really my thing.”

Richard Irmscher is celebrating the New Year in a relaxed atmosphere with his family. “I’ll eat whatever’s on the table. I’m not a fan of fireworks. I just don’t think they’re necessary. I’ll watch the other people do it—that’s enough for me.” Irmscher is sixteen years old and completed his first year in Supersport in 2025.

The EURO MOTO-TEAM wishes the riders, teams, and fans of the championship all the best for the new year and a fantastic start to the new racing season.