Oschersleben: Crash & Podium for Reiterberger

August 3, 2026

EuroMoto Oschersleben - sunday - photo Damon Teerink-9488

Before Belgian Werner Daemen’s team set off last weekend for their next round of the Euro Moto Superbike series at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, his riders Markus Reiterberger (D), Jan Mohr (A) and Milan Merckelbagh (NL) were able to enjoy a few days off from racing. Estonian rider Hannes Soomer was absent from the line-up for the Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team. The BMW rider had injured his shoulder whilst competing in the World Endurance Championship in Japan and was not yet fully fit to compete in the highly competitive Euro Moto Superbike series.

Markus Reiterberger, who had secured a magnificent podium finish for BMW alongside his team-mates at the World Endurance Championship race in Suzuka, Japan, took it easy ahead of the trip to Oschersleben. “I spent a few days on holiday with my little family,” he revealed ahead of the first practice session at the Motorsport Arena. “I’ve been working in my workshop and carrying on with the building of our house.” The Bavarian gave it his all in the practice sessions and Superpole 2, but wasn’t entirely happy at the end of Saturday. “Fifth place – definitely not where I wanted to be this weekend,” he said of his starting position. “But my Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team and I will continue to give it our all to finish Sunday’s races on the podium, though we’re well aware it won’t be easy.”

The first race ended in a spectacular crash for the Euro Moto Superbike riders after just a few laps. Yamaha rider Twan Smits, who was running in second place, suffered an engine failure, and the riders in his slipstream – including Markus Reiterberger – crashed one after the other. Fortunately, nobody was injured in the crash, but the damage was extensive. Reiterberger’s BMW had taken a severe beating after being hurled several metres through the air and over the crash barriers towards the embankment. The mechanics threw their hands up in horror at the sight of the flying BMW. Team boss Werner Daemen was also relieved that everyone had escaped unscathed. “We do have the ‘one-bike rule’ in Euro Moto,” he explained. “We’ll see if we can sort it out, but the rider’s safety comes first.”

The mechanics had less than three hours; it took a while before the BMW could be recovered using a forklift, stripped down to its bare bones and rebuilt from scratch. Then, ten minutes before Race 2, came the relief for Reiterberger. His BMW was back in the pit lane, ready to start. “It was important that I came out of it unscathed,” he assured us. “But my motorbike was a complete write-off. When they towed the bike away, I didn’t think it would work out.” Without a proper functional test and with a brand-new fairing, he headed to the start.

And what can you say. Reiterberger put his trust in his mechanics’ work, set off at full throttle, and together they were able to celebrate second place. Even after the warm-up, it was clear that the BMW was finally performing to Reiterberger’s liking again. “I have to thank my mechanics,” were his first words after crossing the finish line. “I adjusted a few levers and off we went. It felt just like the old moped. The combination wasn’t quite as comfortable. I couldn’t use the rear brake, but that didn’t matter. I was able to give a little something back to the team with second place. For today, second place was a good result. It was lovely to be back in Oschersleben again, especially with so many spectators. I’m grateful.”

Jan Mohr made the journey from Vorarlberg in Austria to north-eastern Germany. Even before the race, it was clear that the rider from the Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team and the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben weren’t going to become the best of friends. The relationship didn’t really improve even after the fourth of seven Euro Moto weekends. “Frustrated” was the word he used to describe his state of mind on Sunday evening. Even after finishing eleventh in qualifying, Mohr and his team still had a few puzzles to solve.

“There was simply nothing more to be had,” he explained. “I’ve got a fundamental problem with the front wheel and a lot of movement in the fork. Mainly going into corners, and so naturally I’m lacking cornering speed. That really adds up, especially on the Oschersleben circuit with its long, sweeping corners.” In the first race, Mohr had emerged unscathed from the mass pile-up following a rival’s engine failure and was classified seventh. “When I got there, all I saw was this huge cloud and I immediately veered off the racing line,” he said, describing the experience. “That’s when the red flag came out. I then rode right on the inside and, of course, I’m happy to take seventh place.”

Mohr didn’t make many further changes ahead of the second race, which ended with him finishing ninth. “We tweaked the damping a little to get rid of the vibrations,” says Mohr. “It was better, but not a breakthrough either. A top-ten finish sounds good, and even the last rider in the field is still fast. But let’s be honest, finishing 30 seconds behind the winner is clearly too much.”

Milan Merckelbagh, like his team-mate, had treated himself to a few days off and enjoyed his free time at an electronic music festival and doing the odd lap of water skiing. In the first two free practice sessions, the Dutchman had got off to a good start to the fourth of seven Euro Moto weekends. On Friday afternoon, the Dutchman made life difficult for himself. Right at the start, the BMW rider ended up in the gravel trap and was unable to resume the session. His bad luck continued on Saturday morning. His team had got his bike back into top condition. But he was only able to complete one lap for a functional check. It had rained overnight and again that morning, so a fast lap was out of the question. As a result, the Dutchman went into Superpole 1, which saw him secure 10th on the grid.

The first race didn’t last very long. Following an engine failure for one of the riders in the leading group, numerous riders crashed and the race was abandoned.

Merckelbagh made it past the crash scene unscathed and was classified in sixth place. In the second race, the Dutchman from the Masteroil-alpha-Van Zon-BMW team got off to a good start, but wasn’t really rewarded for his efforts, finishing in 11th place.

“My start in the afternoon was much better than in the morning,” Merckelbagh reported afterwards. “However, I’d been having problems changing gear in Turn 7 all weekend. Unfortunately, that was the case in the race too.” After rumbling through the grass there and finding his way back onto the track, the real work only began for the BMW rider. He had ended up pretty much at the back of the field and the competition was long gone. “But I actually managed to make up the four-second deficit and still secure eleventh place.”

For Werner Daemen’s team, the Euro Moto programme continues the week after next at the Dutch TT Circuit in Assen.

SUPERBIKE
Results and Standings

Euro Moto Superbike Starting Grid

1. 1.23,566 min Lukas Tulovic (D/Ducati)
2. 1.24,188 min Twan Smits (NL/Yamaha)
3. 1.24,279 min Florian Alt (D/Honda)
5. 1.24,610 min Markus Reiterberger (D/BMW)
10. 1.25,691 min Milan Merckelbagh (NL/BMW)
11. 1.25,923 min Jan Mohr (A/BMW)

Euro Moto Superbike Race 1 (half points)

1. Lukas Tulovic (D/Ducati)
2. Marcel Schrötter (D/BMW)
3. Jan-Ole Jähnig /D/BMW)
6. Milan Merckelbagh (NL/BMW)
7. Jan Mohr (A/BMW)
DNF Markus Reiterberger (D/BMW)

Euro Moto Superbike Race 2

1. Lukas Tulovic (D/Ducati)
2. Markus Reiterberger (D/BMW)
3. Florian Alt (D/Honda)
9. Jan Mohr (A/BMW)
11. Milan Merckelbagh (NL/BMW)

Euro Moto Superbike Overall standings after 8 out of 14 races

1. Lukas Tulovic (D/Ducati) 166,5
2. Marcel Schrötter (D/BMW) 119,0
3. Markus Reiterberger (D/BMW) 105,0
10. Hannes Soomer (EST/BMW) 49,0
11. Jan Mohr (A/BMW) 43,5
13. Milan Merckelbagh (NL/BMW) 29,0