INDIANAPOLIS -- Success has not diminished Michael Schumacher's insatiable need for racing.

With his fifth Formula One championship clinched and a record 63 victories, the 33-year-old German took a break this week for some horseback riding in California with his wife.

	Despite clinching the title in July, Michael Schumacher is not likely to put the season on cruise control.

Schumacher was back on the track Friday as practice began for the third United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He dominated the practice, turning the fastest laps in both runs to solidify his position as favorite in Saturday's qualifying.

"I just love to race,'' he said, his eyes shining.

Schumacher, who clinched the F1 title in July, could have put the rest of the season on cruise control, letting Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello carry the load.

Instead, he continued to race hard and win. He said that won't change at Indy or in the season finale in Japan -- or anytime soon.

"Whatever the race is, I will be motivated for it and will go out there and fight,'' Schumacher said.

"It's not any numbers. The pure motivation of the challenge of each individual race ... is what I care about.''

As a measure of his dedication to the sport, Schumacher related a story from last winter.

"We just had a three-month break, and the new car wasn't ready for quite a while,'' Schumacher said. "Everybody was testing (their cars), and I was still sitting at home. I get nervous and I have to have the wheel between my hands.

"The only thing that was there was the old car, and I asked if there was any chance for me to run and they said, 'Yeah, come down.'''

So he spent two days on Ferrari's test track in Fiorano, Italy, driving the 2001 edition of the powerful red race car.

Staying motivated isn't always easy, though, particularly when winning seems so easy.

In the inaugural F1 race at Indy in 2000, Schumacher was so dominant he lost concentration and spun late in the race. It was an embarrassing moment, even though he recovered and went on to win.

"I touched a wheel onto the grass, which spun me off,'' he said, smiling. "If I would have been sharply focused on it, then I, for sure, would have had the reaction to catch it. I didn't.

"I learn from my mistakes and I keep up my concentration. I have made that mistake, I think, twice, which is very unusual that I make the same mistake twice,'' Schumacher added. "I don't want to put the number three on it.''

The key for Schumacher, though, is the on-track battle "to prove myself and to feel the enjoyment -- and sometimes the disappointment -- which you have to have to feel again happy at the next stage,'' he said. "These waves of emotion to go through -- that for me is my life.''