Two weeks ago it became official: the Asia Road Racing Championship was canceled for 2020 due to the existing travel restrictions by Corona for Europeans to Asia. Markus Reiterberger will not contest any further races for the ONEXOX TKKR SAG team this year. Of course Reiti is very disappointed, the season had already started well with a win and a fourth place and gave hope for further similar successes. In the overall ranking of the riders, Reiterberger was already in second place after the first event. A championship title would have been possible and was also the goal of the 26-year-old.
What remains for him this year in terms of competitions is the season finale of the World Endurance Championship this weekend in Estoril in Portugal.
The Bavarian has been competing with the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team since the second event of the season, which took place in Sepang, Malaysia last December. The team has been a brand new member since the start of the 2019/2020 season and is the BMW Motorrad factory team in the EWC. After three events and two podium places, the team around Reiterberger's manager Werner Daemen is currently holding fourth place in the World Championship. Everything is still possible and Reiti wants to do his best again to get a few more points and maybe a place on the podium for the Belgian team. Together with his teammates Kenny Foray and Peter Hickman, who was already there as a substitute rider at the 24 hours of Le Mans and is now standing in for Ilya Mikhalchik, as he is contesting the IDM season finale in Germany at the same time, the Bavarian will compete with the BMW S 1000 RR for 12 hours, pushing boundaries.
Between the third round of the season in Le Mans and the finale in Estoril, Reiti took a short break in the Bavarian mountains and went on a motorcycle tour in South Tyrol with a few friends and his private BMW S 1000 RR. Before the season finale of the Endurance World Championship, Reiterberger also completed a tyre test with the BMW S 1000 RR in France.
Markus Reiterberger: “My expectations for the EWC season finale in Estoril are very high. The team is well prepared. The evaluation after the Le Mans race was very constructive and we know where we can still improve. We know that we can be at the front again. The only thing left to do now is to put the puzzle together. We'll try that in Estoril. I'm really looking forward to it and I'm excited to work with Hicky (Peter Hickman) again when it comes to points. At Le Mans he was just our reserve rider. In Estoril he will replace Ilya because he has to start in the IDM at the same time. I hope we will make a good team. A 12-hour race is a mixture of 24 hours and 8 hours. An 8-hour race is more like a sprint race, it's about speed. The 24-hour race is about durability and longevity and you have to be extremely careful. And in the 12-hour race, you ride a mixture of both. You have to get the most out of the bike and put a motorcycle on the ground that is good for all three riders, easy to handle, but also fast at the same time. I hope we can do that. We will work hard on it. The goal is clearly to get to the top. We will do everything to achieve that! "