Official: Michael Schumacher to race in German Superbike championship

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

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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.

See the entry list here

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”.