Michael Schumacher made an auspicious motorcycle racing debut at the Misano track in Italy on Sunday. The race was the seven-time F1 champion's first professional competition on two wheels, following last week's amateur event in Hungary.
The short ten-lap event was run on 990cc KTM Super Duke motorbikes, on which Schumacher managed to qualify third and finish an impressive fourth, having dropped down to 14th and fought his way back up through the field. Schumacher was quick to assert, however, that this was a casual pursuit and not the start of a second career. Cautious reservations aside, we wouldn't be surprised to see the champ sporadically climb back onto various two-wheeled racing machines for the occasional race here or there.
[Source: Autosport, Photo by STR/AFP/Getty]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Yago Bal @ Apr 1st 2008 2:45PM
The guy is a superman!!! He, on top of all, isn't quite young...
j3oomerang @ Apr 1st 2008 5:27PM
They say "casual" but can a man of Schumachers background have the ability to take any race lightly? The man is a bred winner and he will naturally be competitive. I guess he just casually climbed from 14th to 4th position.
This is great for 4-wheel and 2-wheel racing. The 2-wheel inustry gets huge propganda from a automotive star (used to be the highest paid athlete in the world). 4-wheelers benefit from the star validitating the skills involved in 4-wheel sports as many of motogp fanboys think real racing is done on two wheels. They beleive the driver is much more involved, whereas these fanboys think F1 guys just have heavy feet with capable electronics.
nick @ Apr 1st 2008 2:51PM
Why is this on here? Are we going to report every time this guy takes a dump?
info @ Apr 1st 2008 3:00PM
What a well thought out, intelligent, high class comment.
m @ Apr 1st 2008 4:21PM
Maybe it's because this is an automotive blog.
He's an automotive celebrity that's trying something new.
That something new also involves automobiles.
In what way is it surprising that this would be noted on an automotive blog?
Schumacher doing well on bikes could have huge effects.
This man has a very large following of fans, and I would think he has the potential to interest many of those fans in a different type of racing. Increased popularity has the potential to change motorcycle racing, putting more money in the sport. More money could allow faster technology advances, speeding trickle down to street bikes. More popularity could mean more motorcycle sales and usage, changing the automotive landscape. The resulting decreases in fuel consumption have significant political, cultural, economical, and some would even say environmental effects. I'd call that newsworthy.
AlphaTeam @ Apr 1st 2008 7:20PM
M. Schumacher is considered a superhero in motorsports. And this an autoblog. If you can't appreciate, don't post here
ilya @ Apr 1st 2008 2:52PM
Haha !
April fool !
In2uition @ Apr 1st 2008 5:53PM
The news source is dated March 30th.....
John P. @ Apr 1st 2008 2:54PM
I heard he's training for that other Two-Wheeled Race, The Tour de France, and expects to win.
husam666 @ Apr 1st 2008 10:52PM
i can understand nick's frustration - this is sensationalistic journalism at its finest. autoblog keeps publishing articles about Schumi's foray into bikes, and tries to hint that he could really make a go at pro bike racing. the equivalent would be Nicky Hayden winning a miata spec series race, and the press saying he could be making a run at F1.
saycheese @ Apr 2nd 2008 1:30AM
replying to husam666:
Nicki Hayden does not have Schumacher's stature and legacy in bike racing. If anything, you could have compared this news to Valentino Rossi competing in some open wheel racing event and almost finishing up on the podium.
Jim @ Apr 2nd 2008 4:08AM
Nice job, Schumacher really did! Indeed, Schumacher is the best. I've always watched him in his F1 races. He always won. Well, 95% of the time, anyway. And getting something about him has been my dream for a long time. Really excited to make my dream come true, Last week I got one Wheels cllection: http://dealstudio.com/searchdeals.php?deal_id=94443&ru=279 , Michael!Thanks for all those beautiful races. No one will surpass your records!
MikeInNC @ Apr 2nd 2008 8:16AM
The guy is retired and having fun on two wheels. I like hearing what he's up to since he's no longer on the F1 circuit. If you have a problem with it the scroll button on your mouse works. Use it and quit freakin whining already.
husam666 @ Apr 2nd 2008 9:37PM
i thought about using Rossi, but it wouldn't be fair. Rossi could possibly pull off both sports:
"Driving a 2004 Ferrari F2004, Rossi finished eighth fastest of the 15 drivers, completing 53 laps, with a best time of 1.12.851. Schumacher covered a total of 71 laps, setting the third quickest time of the day at 1.11.814. Rossi was faster than a number of established F1 stars on the day"
I'm not knocking Schumi as a motorsports legend, but I'd bet my house he couldn't come within 10seconds of Rossi's lap time on Motogp bikes. Let alone get within 1 sec.
MikeInNC @ Apr 3rd 2008 2:23PM
husam666, if you recall, there were plenty of driver aid's in '04. That takes a ton of weight off of the driver's talent. Bikes don't have any of that stuff. Testing and racing are entirely different and driver aids can make up a whole lot of time. I'm not knocking Rossi, he's awesome but, Schumi is no slouch and is also not looking to prove anything since he's already retired.