Grapevine: Germans Relish Sausages and Dash

If your idea of heaven is grilled sausages, beer and watching the Schumacher brothers, then the Nurburgring is definitely the place to be this weekend. Tens of thousands of fans are pouring into the 14 camp sites bordering the track ahead of the much-anticipated battle of the German brothers in Sunday's European Grand Prix.

Nurburgring fever is nothing new, but since Ralf beat Michael for a historic one-two in Montreal two weeks ago, it has been spreading like never before.

"I have never seen anything like it," said circuit chief executive Walter Kafitz. "The 142,000 tickets for Sunday went just like that. We could have easily sold 200,000."

In all some 300,000, mostly Schumacher-obsessed supporters are expected for the three-day festival in the scenic Eifel hills which started with Friday's free practice. To join them, you need a barbecue, enough of your favourite lager to sip from breakfast onwards, a portable CD player loaded with syrupy German pop music and plenty of patience.

"It took us four hours to get in," said Ulf Doerschner, a 44-year-old Michael Schumacher follower from Cologne, standing outside his rusty Ferrari-red van with a beer can in his hand. "We plan this months in advance. But don't you think it's a holiday. It's exhausting. In fact I need holidays after it to recover."

Catching up

Michael, who won here in 1995 and again last year, is still the most popular Schumacher by a long way but Ralf is quickly catching up.

"I would say 80 percent of the fans are for Michael and the rest for Ralf," said Willi Weber, the manager of both brothers. "What I would like to see is 50 percent for each. But Michael is a three-time world champion and a real top man. Ralf might become that but he needs time."

While Michael is establishment, Ralf is the shooting star, having won his first two races this year.

"I have no doubt that somebody will bury me one day and it could well be Ralf," Michael said of his younger brother earlier this week.

Off the track, Michael could be described as a straightforward family man who has managed to shrug off his reputation for being slightly arrogant while Ralf is seen as more cheerful and a touch more glamorous.

"Ralf is so cute," said Kerstin, 17, wearing a T-shirt bearing the effigy of her hero. "He's much sweeter than Michael. I must admit I'm not a great fan of Cora," she added, referring to Ralf's fiancee, Cora Brinkmann.

The real thing

For Doerschner, nothing beats Michael: "Ralf is all right and girls like him but Michael is the real thing," he said. Nobody appeared to care too much about the other two Germans in Formula One, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Nick Heidfeld.

"This is Schumacher country," Doerschner said. "We like the other two, but we love the Schumachers. They're normal Germans, just like us, and brilliant drivers. It's for them that we're all here."

The Schumacher madness started Thursday when the two paid a short visit to Kerpen, a small town some 100 kilometers from the Nurburgring where they were born and raised and honed their skills on the family's go-kart track. Dozens of fans were waiting when they arrived -- Ralf by helicopter and Michael on a motorbike.

"Hey, Michael, another one-two on Sunday?," one fan shouted at the reigning world champion. "It would be nice," the Ferrari driver replied. "Especially the other way round."