Grapevine: Fans Prepare to Celebrate in Kerpen

Thousands of Michael Schumacher fans crowded into the German driver's home town on Saturday to watch kart races in the streets and take part in warm-up celebrations for Sunday's Formula One finale.

A sense of nervous anticipation descended upon the tidy Rhineland town of Kerpen, west of Cologne, ahead of Schumacher's attempt to win a record sixth world championship on Sunday by taking at least one point in the season's final race in Suzuka, Japan.

Several thousand fans followed Saturday's qualifying on giant television screens set up near the 650-metre-long kart track that lapped Monaco-style around the downtown business district of Kerpen, a town of 63,000 inhabitants.

More than 20,000 were expected to crowd into a sports arena and other Kerpen establishments that will be open before dawn on Sunday to watch broadcasts of the race.

"We're all a little bit nervous," said Kerpen welder Harald Schwerfel, 41. "But he should be able to put the title in the bag as long as no-one deliberately knocks him out. He's done so much for Kerpen. We all love him here."

Even though Schumacher left Kerpen, a former mining town, in 1994 and now lives in Switzerland, the town has turned itself into a giant shrine to its famous son and is known throughout Germany as "Schumi Town".

Schumacher's father runs the Michael Schumacher Kart Centre and museum on the edge of town, which hundreds of fans visited on Saturday.

"Michael's put Kerpen on the map and people all around the world have heard of us thanks to him," said Dieter Follmann, events director for the town council.

"The town is packed all weekend and hotels have been booked out for months. Michael's given us a lot of opportunities for celebration. We're hoping Sunday's will be the biggest ever."

The weekend began with kart races, concerts by rock bands and beer and bratwurst parties in giant outdoor tents.

"Michael's done an awful lot for Kerpen," said Hubert Dase, 52, a banker. "We're all Schumi fans here. We'll all be pulling for him on Sunday."