NOVEMBER 3, 1997
RALF SCHUMACHER  will  not  be seeing much of Grand  Prix  racing  for the next two months. The 22 -year-old Jordan driver finished his Formula 1 season in Spain and promptly went into uniform to do  his  compulsory  national  service. Schumacher has  been   posted   to  a  Bundeswehr  (  national service )  regiment  of  the  German  Air  Force at the  Porz - Wahn  base,   which  is  next  door  to Bonn-Cologne  Airport  and  about  20 miles  from the  Schumacher  Family  home  at Kerpen.
He  will  spend the  next two months completing a basic training  course  but after that will become part  of  a  scheme  for  sportsmen  which  allows them  to  develop  their  careers  while  officially serving  in  the  military. Ralf Schumacher should  be  seen  testing  again  for  Jordan in December, in  preparation for  the start  of the  1998 season.