The former German Formula 1 World Cup Champion Michael Schumacher retired in 2006 on the basis that there is no guarantee that he will able to compete for the title again. After his 90th Grand-Prix victory and after a 15-year career he thought this would be the right moment to leave the Formula 1 with dignity. He stated that it was a very difficult decision for him but someday everybody needs to make a decision. Even so the 39-year-old remained faithful to Ferrari and he is now a test driver and consultant for the team.
Since 2007 it seems that Schumacher became more and more interested in the Formula 1 on two wheels. At the beginning of the year he already took part in some test drives in the motorsport and then in November drove 58 rounds on the motorcycle of the Australian MotoGP World Cup Champion Casey Stoner. With his own minimum time he was just five seconds slower than the at that time valid circuit record. Schumacher said he was just having fun driving the motorcycle and he was not planning to participate in a real race. This year it seems he changed his mind about that comment.
On March 20th this year, Schumacher showed that he is a born race driver in the motorsport as well. He started at a Motorcycle Road Race at the Pannonia Ring in Hungary at the invitation of the Honda team. With exactly two minutes at the 4,5 kilometer circuit the German drove that fastest lap in the training phase and could qualify to start at the front row. In the main race he came third after the Austrian professionals Martin Bauer and Andy Meklau, hence he was the best amateur. He abandoned the victory ceremony in order to avoid the bustle.
The race is part of the Skoox-Cup, a semiprofessional racing series which was initiated by the Austrian IDM-Superbike driver Mike Wohner. Die Racing-for-Fun event is divided in two different categories: Superbikes under and over 600 ccm.
Next Sunday, on March 30th, he will try his luck again and try to qualify for the contest for the KTM-Super-Duke-Trophy. The race is organized by the Austrian motor vehicle manufacturer KTM and takes place at the Italian race circuit Mugello whereby the drivers have to absolve ten laps.
Schumacher's fans would be very happy about a comeback in another division but with his action he did not only win himself praise. The former Fomula-1 team chef and executive manager of Ferrari Jean Todt is upset and wishes a motorcycle prohibition for Schumacher. With the concerns of a parent he said: "It doesn't please me at all to see him participating in the motorcycle races, we all know that this can be very dangerous."
