FORMER F1 king Michael Schumacher has been sidelined for another race in the IDM Superbike Championship because of the injuries still dogging him from his pre-season crash.
Schumi's British team-mate Chris Burns is heading out to Germany this week to embark on his second outing in the championship; the former MotoGP rider returns to the Holzhauer Honda Racing squad as the series rolls in to Sachsenring circuit in Saxony.
Burns joined the championship-winning outfit last month as a replacement for the injured reigning champion, Martin Bauer.
Burns said: “At the moment I’m conscious of the need to get a set-up that works for me.
“Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t very good when we tested there last week – it was damp but not wet enough to be wet, nor was it dry enough to be dry – so we weren’t able to make as much progress as we’d have hoped for.
“It means I’ve got a lot to do this weekend. Martin likes his bike set up totally different to me, so I’ve had to start from scratch. It’s put us on the back foot a little bit, so we need to work hard to get around it.”
Burns will not be joined by seven-times F1 champ Schumacher this weekend. The German superstar withdrew from the previous round as he was still nursing injuries sustained in a pre-season crash, and it emerged this afternoon that he will not compete this weekend.
Burns added: “If we can get a decent qualifying position, I hope we can challenge at the front. I’ve ridden at Sachsenring twice when I was in GP, so with my experience there I hope we can have a good round.
“I need to perform this weekend. There’s a lot of pressure on me – mainly from myself – and I’m determined that this weekend I will get a strong result for me and the team.”
