As Michael Schumacher continues with intensive preparations for his F1 comeback in just two weeks time in Valencia the former seven times world champion undertook two days of karting in Italy last week. The German said that the forces involved in the arena of karting were very beneficial to his rigorous training schedule and building up muscles as well as giving him exposure to the intensive levels of heat that the South Garda track saw last week which were very similar to what he can expect on his comeback in Spain.

Schumacher has already tested a Ferrari F2007 single-seater running on GP2 series tyres at the Mugello circuit but he is unable to try this year's F60 as the Williams, Red Bull and Toro Rosso teams have vetoed a request to be allowed to from Maranello. Along with Official Ferrari F1 Test Driver Luca Badoer, who joined him at South Garda, Schumacher used karts last Wednesday and Thursday that were supplied and run by 2008 Karting World Championship winning team, Tonykart.

"Karting has a very good training effect, that is why today I just jumped into a testing day of the Tonykart  Team in Lonato," Schumacher said in a note posted on his website at the end of the first day of karting on Wednesday. The South Garda track is 1010 m long, 9 metres wide and one of karting's most important international circuits. "There is nothing better for my preparations at the moment - in terms of steering wheel forces for example Karting is even more difficult than Formula 1. And the fact that it has been boiling hot here is simulating the temperatures expected for Valencia. Luca Badoer is with me, and together we found again today that Karting is just an awful lot of fun."

A second day of running on the kart track took place on Thursday. "We had two very good Karting days in Lonato, Luca [Badoer] and me could well exploit the time," the German who won five F1 titles with Ferrari and two with Benetton said on his website afterwards. "Arms, upper body, shoulders, neck - an excellent practice indeed. I really would like to expressly thank Roberto Robazzi and his Tonykart team who as always prepare only the best conditions for us. What was especially nice for me was that Corinna had joined me those days. It was our wedding anniversary yesterday and we celebrated it with a nice dinner in the evening. In the next days I will keep practicing at home."