Starke made his Bayer Leverkusen debut on 25 August 2000, playing the whole game, in a 2–1 loss against St. Pauli in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, which was his only appearance for the club. Although he spent most of the 2000–01 season playing for the reserve side, Starke was called up to the first team, appearing as an unused substitute for the rest of the season. Despite not appearing in the squad for the UEFA Champions League Final against Real Madrid, Starke revealed that he was given a runner–up medal and said: "Maybe it was simplistic political reasons that I never got used." For the rest of his career at Bayer Leverkusen, Starke continued to remain as a cover behind Hans-Jörg Butt, appearing as an unused substitute and at the same time, he appeared regularly for the Bayer Leverkusen II.