Busy day for Schumacher

Yesterday morning, Michael Schumacher attended a road safety conference in Bergisch-Gladbach near Cologne. In the presence of FIA President, Max Mosley and the Federal Minister of Transport, Kurt Bodewig, the four time world champion spoke of the importance of adopting crash tests equal in severity to those used in Formula 1 for road cars.

Michael has been working on safety in Formula 1 and on the roads for many years now. The German driver was clearly affected by the tragic events of the San Marino GP in 1994, when Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna lost their lives. "At the time I felt we had to learn something from these tragedies," explained Michael. "I think we can say we did take something from Imola. With the help of experts from all over Europe we have managed to increase the safety on the roads as well."

After the conference, Michael went to Kerpen where he watched the Germany v South Korea World Cup semi-final. "It was very stressful!" reckoned Schumacher. "I was in a cold sweat for the whole game. Germany attacked and played well. Now, I've got my fingers crossed for the final."

After the match, the current championship leader attended the opening of the 'The world of the Schumachers' exhibition which features the careers of the brothers Michael and Ralf Schumacher. The ceremony took place in the presence of the Mayor of Kerpen, Ralf Valkysers. The exhibition is situated in Michael's kart track and covers an area of 800 square metres. Several of the cars used in Michael's early career are on display, including his first Fiat 500, an old kart and some of the chamions F1 cars. Michael and Ralf's father, Rolf Schumacher has also recreated a typical kart workshop from the Seventies, just like the one in which Michael took his first steps in the world of racing.

"This exhibition is really special for me. I would like to thank my father, who has created something really well done which is a quality product. I have to say it brought back many happy memories which I had not thought about in a long time. My children also came to see it and had lots of questions to ask me."

The brothers' father Rolf had the idea of putting on the exhibition, because along with other residents of Kerpen who have known the brothers since childhood, he has had to answer so many questions about how they started their careers. "I think this exhibition will answer all those questions," said Michael.

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