Tobias Kitzbichler: Austrian with World Championship ambitions at Rookies test

With some breathing space behind him, but with little chance of improving his position, the Austrian Tobias Kitzbichler travelled to the final at Hockenheim in third place overall in the Euro Moto Sportbike series. With a front-row seat to the title battle between the Czech rider Stepan Zuda and the Dutchman Ruben Bijmann, the rider of an Aprilia RS660 for the ViVa by Peuker & Streeb team finished third and fourth. Because guest rider Daniel Mogeda, who finished second ahead of him in the final race of the season, his fourth-place finish was equivalent to another third place in terms of points. He had cemented third place in the final standings either way and was satisfied with his first Sportbike season.

Speaking to SPEEDWEEK.com, last year’s Moto4 rider first commented on his Hockenheim weekend: “I wouldn’t have been able to achieve much more in the championship anyway, though I’d hoped for more from my last two finishes – but it was enough for third place overall. That position is more than I’d expected from the season anyway.” Specifically, the 17-year-old from Niederndorf (near Kufstein), who turned 17 on the Monday before the final round of the Euro Moto on 21 September, said: “Before the season started, I’d reckoned I’d finish in the top seven, so it was absolutely fine. Theoretically, finishing as runner-up in the championship would still have been possible at Hockenheim, but for my first year in the sportbike class, this is just fine. I’m really, really happy.”

The World Championship is the Austrian’s goal

Although he believes that his successes in his first sportbike season have given him plenty of motivation and that he should stick with it, Tobias Kitzbichler hasn’t completely ruled out the Moto3 route just yet. He is currently taking part in the selection process for the 2027 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. “I definitely want to try and get into that to keep my options open in both directions – MotoGP and the Superbike World Championship.” He doesn’t think he’s too heavy for the Moto3 KTM, just a bit too tall. “It’s starting to get a bit tricky for me to hide behind the fairing. But when you’re invited, you obviously don’t say no.”

Regardless of how the Rookies Cup trials turn out for him, he already has a plan for next year that he intends to pursue one way or another. “It’s pretty much certain that I’ll stay with my team this year, Peuker and Streeb, and ride a sportsbike for another year. But that doesn’t necessarily have to be in the IDM. We’ve applied for a starting place in the 2027 Sportbike World Championship, but that won’t be confirmed until November. If that doesn’t work out, we’d stay in the IDM and apply for a few guest starts in the World Championship.”

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