Michael Schumacher To Race In German Superbike Championship

[shamitz]

Official: Michael Schumacher to race in German Superbike championship

16 May 2008 15:29

Former seven-times F1 world champion Michael Schumacher WILL race this weekend in Germany's leading bike racing series, the IDM Superbike championship.

The 37-year-old is set to be a wildcard in the race at Oschershleben aboard a Honda CBR1000RR entered by current series champions Holzhauer Racing, alongside German superbike champion Martin Bauer.

An official press release from the series organisers says: "The most prominent starter of the weekend is the sevenfold F1 world champion Michael Schumacher, racing in the IDM Superbike class on a Honda CBR 1000RR Fireblade of the Holzhauer Racing team with approximately 190 HP.

"In recent weeks Schumacher has tested several times with the team, at the Pannoniaring (Hungary), the EuroSpeedway Lausitz and also in Oschersleben.

"Both of the team's professional riders - Austrian Martin Bauer (32), last year champion of the IDM Superbike series - and the 20-year old Mattias von Hammerstein supported Schumacher with the tests, with which he surprised many experts with fast times."

Schumacher's entry into the race explains the rapid sequence of club races he has recently entered - which saw him riding in Spain and Italy and completing three events in less than two weeks - as he needed the experience to gain the licence to race in the superbike championship.

Despite all this, Schumacher maintains he only races bikes "for fun".

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/?Ntt=michael%2520schumacher&N=190&Ntx=mode%2520matchallpartial&Ntk=site

[Razo]

WOW...cant wait to see this race....sadly i dun have cable Bikes are definiteyl more thilling than cars.

[Silver]

Schumacher slips up in Superbike race

Monday, 19 May 2008 18:04

Michael Schumacher's motorcycle racing exploits struck a hitch at the weekend when he crashed in his first appearance in German Superbikes.

The seven-times world champion has dabbled with two-wheeled racing since retiring from Formula 1, although he is adamant that he is only racing bikes for his own entertainment and has no plans to start a second career.

Despite Schumacher racing under the pseudonym Marcel Niederhausen, word got out that he would be competing in the Oschersleben rounds of the IDM Superbike series.

A large crowd duly gathered to watch him come from 37th on the grid to 28th in the first race, before crashing out of 21st place in race two.

"This was a classic example of how to learn the hard way," Schumacher wrote on his personal website.

"I had just planned an attack on the bike in front, and had chosen quite a narrow gap to get a good exit curve.

"My footrest hitched onto the kerb and I slid off with the bike."

The German legend escaped injury and shrugged off the incident.

"Nothing really came of it, just a few scratches to the bike's exterior, and probably a few good pictures for the photographers who were at the scene," said Schumacher.

"The sad thing was that I couldn't finish the race, but all in all it was great fun.

"A bike race is really quite different from motor racing, and it was really good to hold my own with the field assembled.

"I could have pulled a few places back in the first race, but unfortunately I false started.

"But after that the race was really enjoyable."

The Oschersleben race was billed as a one-off, with Schumacher not offering any details of when he might next appear on a motorcycle grid.

Quoted from - http://www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=42681#

[shamitz]

Another Schumy article

Michael Schumacher Stuns In Motorcycle Race Debut

Formula 1 superstar Michael Schumacher bagged his first podium finish in a motorcycle race yesterday when he raced a Honda Fireblade to third place in the SKOOX Cup at the 4.5km Pannoniaring circuit in Hungary.

Clocking a fastest-race lap time of 2m 1.309 (2m flat in qualifying), Schumacher was third behind winner Martin Bauer and Andreas Meklau in the superstock-rules championship.

Schumacher was riding a bike usually campaigned by IDM champion Martin Farmer in the German championship, but according to race watchers was aggressive on track right from the start - earning him the incredible podium finish in a fraught race.

Schumacher, riding a Honda CBR1000RR, dominated qualifying, grabbing pole position, although it should be noted that neither IDM rider had timing transponders and therefore started the race from the rear of the grid. Despite his pole position, Schumacher decided to join the IDM riders and start the race from the rear of the field. From here, he fought his way through the field to finish third overall.

Team boss Mike Wohner said that it was impossible to talk to Schumacher immediately before the race, because he was so nervous, he said: "I noticed that Schumi was extremely focused before the race. His tactics were pretty simple, he was going to ride the race completely on full attack. He also admitted to me that his nervousness level was high."

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/newsandu...ebut/index.html

[Devinda_Z]

Michael Schumacher crashes out of German Superbike race

By Liam Marsden

19 May 2008 09:24

Ex Formula One champion Michael Schumacher was racing in the IDM German Superbike Championship at the weekend and had a mixture of results in the two races.

More of Michael Schumacher racing motorcycles

Schumacher qualified 39th out of over 40 riders and started the first race on the back row. He ended up finishing race one in 28th place only three seconds off the pace of the race winner and his team mate Martin Bauer.

Unfortunately race two saw Michael Schumacher crash out trying to make his way up the pack. Martin Bauer also won race two.

Source : MCN

Edited May 24, 2008 by Devinda_Z