Grapevine: Schuey Sweats to Shed Weight for Kart Race

Ferrari's Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher is sweating to lose weight ahead of a kart race in Germany this weekend.

Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper reported that the four times World Champion, one of the fittest drivers in Formula One, felt he needed to shed three kilos to be in racing trim.

Peter Kaiser, the German's former kart mechanic who now oversees the track in his home town of Kerpen where the final round of the world championship is to be run, said Schumacher was at a disadvantage to his rivals.

"Michael weighs eight kilos more than (Italian reigning world champion Davide) Fore. Such a difference costs 3-4 tenths of a second a lap," he said. "For that reason we are working on weight, and not only of the kart."

The Gazzetta said Schumacher had trained since the end of the season in Japan on October 14 by playing football, riding his mountain bike and spending time sweating in the sauna at his Swiss home. Schumacher grew up with karts and has spoken of his lingering passion for the sport.

"This is a real challenge for me," he said on his official website. "Formula One is of course the ultimate challenge but driving a kart has always been something special to me, those wheel-to-wheel duels, that kind of combat.

"I am of course aware that these guys against whom I will be racing drive every day, and I maybe only three times a year, but that entices me even more."