A mixed start to the EuroMoto season at the Sachsenring

• Reiterberger heads to Brno in fifth place overall 

The season opener of the revamped EuroMoto, formerly the IDM (International German Motorcycle Championship), at the Sachsenring was a successful weekend for more than just the series organisers, with packed stands. Markus Reiterberger is also pleased with his return weekend to the championship. Having been unable to attend all the tests for the EuroMoto Superbike class during pre season, his first task was to get to grips with the bike and the new conditions. The Obing-based rider had not raced at his home circuit, the Sachsenring, himself for many years either. 

On Friday in the rain, the 32-year-old finished third in the first practice session and first in the second. In the Superpole pre-practice, conditions on the drying track were completely different again and it proved difficult. After a crash at the end of the session, the Bavarian was denied direct entry into the Superpole. There wasn’t enough time to get the bike back in shape and he had to settle for eighth place.

Superpole 1 and 2 on Saturday went better, and Reiterberger was finally able to get into his stride, finishing the sessions in second and third place. In Superpole 1, he clocked a lap time of 1’23.0, which was his best lap time at the Sachsenring to date. In Superpole 2, he managed to beat that time with a 1’22.5. For the two Superbike races on Sunday, Markus Reiterberger secured third place on the grid and set himself a clear goal of a podium finish for race day.

In the first of the two races in the EuroMoto premier class, in which Reiterberger battled for the top positions with reigning German champion Lukas Tulovic, former GP rider Marcel Schrötter and his team-mate Hannes Soomer, he finished a whisker away in third place and achieved his podium target for the weekend. Unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan in the second race on Sunday afternoon. After a difficult start, Reiterberger spent a long time in fourth place behind his team-mate Hannes Soomer. He briefly overtook him and moved up to third place, battling for the final podium spot. Just a few laps before the finish, following a swap of positions with Kevin Orgis and Marcel Schrötter, Reiterberger had to hand the position back to his team-mate Soomer, who completed the podium behind the repeat winner Lukas Tulovic on Ducati and Twan Smits on Yamaha. Reiterberger finished sixth.

A mixed weekend is drawing to a close, and Markus Reiterberger knows exactly what he and his team need to work on ahead of the second round of the 2026 EuroMoto season, which takes place from 29 May to 31 May 2026 in Brno, Czech Republic.

Markus Reiterberger:

"On Friday in the rain, I finished second and third, which was fine given that I hadn’t been able to do much testing during the pre season. As the track dried out, things went really well, with me taking first position in the second free practice session. Qualifying – the Superpole pre-practice – was a bit trickier with the rain coming back, and in the end it caught me out and I ended up in the gravel. We couldn’t get the bike back to 100% in time either, and I only managed to qualify in eighth place. So I’m really happy with third on the grid from the front row. The first race went better than I’d expected. I should have overtaken Hannes (Soomer) sooner, but I just couldn’t get past him, which of course gave Marcel (Schrötter) a clear advantage. In the end, I did manage to get past Hannes and secure third place just before the finish line. But no one can currently match Lukas’s (Tulovic) Ducati. That was clearly evident in the second race as well. Of course, I’m not exactly happy with sixth place in the second race. We used a different front tyre to my rivals and adjusted the set-up accordingly, which meant I had problems from the middle of the race onwards. We now need to analyse the problem and work on it so that we can be back in the fight for the podium from the next race onwards."