Markus Reiterberger: “Two fourth-place finishes weren’t satisfactory”

Markus Reiterberger was the last member of Werner Daemen’s team to arrive at the Nürburgring, where an unscheduled test day had been organised on Thursday, ahead of the actual Euro Moto weekend. Until Wednesday afternoon, Reiterberger had been travelling in the south of France on behalf of BMW, where in two weeks’ time he will contest the final and decisive race of the World Endurance Championship, still with a chance of winning the title. “We finished the test with the fastest time,” the Bavarian reported, full of anticipation.

The rider from the Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team had set his sights high for the two Euro Moto races at the Nürburgring. A trophy was right at the top of Reiterberger’s list, and to achieve this, he and his team put in a tremendous amount of effort. Even though he had to take a slight detour via Superpole 1, he secured 6th on the grid in Superpole 2. Although this meant ‘only’ a place on the second row, the gaps to the competition were manageable. The first race of the Euro Moto Superbike proved to be a thrilling affair for riders and fans alike. After the start, Reiterberger had fought his way past his rivals to claim fourth place. From there, he set his sights on defending champion Lukas Tulovic, who was lapping in third place.

Closing the gap, yes; attacking, no

At times, Reiterberger was faster than the eventual winner, Twan Smits; he closed the gap to Tulovic and put considerable pressure on the rider ahead of him. In the heat of the moment, Reiterberger braked too late heading towards the Mercedes Arena, and the gap widened again. Yet even then he didn’t give up and worked his way back onto the Ducati’s rear wheel. But closing the gap is one thing; getting past is quite another. Lukas Tulovic defended his third place with everything the Ducati had to offer, leaving Reiterberger no chance to attack. Finishing a tenth of a second behind, he took fourth place.

‘New race, new chance’ was the motto for Race 2 in the afternoon. In a frantic start, Markus Reiterberger got through the Mercedes-Arena well and held on to fourth place. Once again, the BMW rider gave it his all, squeezing every last bit of performance out of his bike and himself – often pushing beyond the limit. And once again, after finishing fourth, he went home without a trophy.

But it wasn’t enough.

Markus Reiterberger

“A weekend of ups and downs,” Reiterberger described. “We got off to a great start on Thursday. But as we approached Superpole, just as in the last few Euro Moto races, we improved only slightly whilst the others improved a bit more. But in Superpole I still managed to secure sixth place and was half a second faster. I was well aware, though, that it wouldn’t be enough for the podium.” So his team pulled an all-nighter, and once again, by joining forces, they took a step forward.

“I was able to keep up with the top three,” is his analysis of Sunday’s race. “But I couldn’t attack. From the first to the last lap, I gave it my all in every corner; I was at the limit and even beyond it. But it wasn’t enough. We’re close. Yet we’ve now reached a level where a few hundredths here and there are simply decisive. Two bronze medals isn’t exactly satisfying, but the races were great. We know what we need to do for Hockenheim. First of all, a big thank you to my team, especially Werner, who always has my back, and of course to my fans.”