Now, I am sure that I was not the only Schumie fan who was disappointed when the retired seven-time Formula One champion had to call off his return to the sport. Oh, how I had stolen moments just to daydream about seeing the great man weave his way around those hairpin bends and chicanes with imperious ease once more.

But alas, ’twas not to be.

Michael Schumacher’s dodgy neck has well and truly put paid to his time as king of the Formula One track.

And so to console myself, I began my desperate search to find a new hero to fill his scarlet Ferrari boots – someone with equally supreme calmness and mastery of the art of driving.

Sure there are some good Formula One drivers out there, but I couldn’t quite find one to dull the pain and dejection that I was feeling at my wasted daydreams.

And then it hit me like a bolt out of the blue (or the Ferrari red) – I knew who my new hero of the road was!

With no world championships to show for it, and in fact no grand prix starts to even mention, this hero is no member of the jet-set elite of driving, but definitely knows how to handle the road.

My new hero is drum-roll …the Zimbabwean driver!

Not only must this most skilled of artists deal with normal traffic situations BUT also perilous potholes, unpredictable kombi drivers and yes even the non-functioning robots at intersections which demand quick thinking on who should have right of way.

God bless our drivers!

And I do mean that. These are the long-suffering men and women who would put a racing driver to shame with the ease with which they negotiate the catastrophe that is Zimbabwe’s road network system. And all the time, conducting conversations with their passengers or paying attention to the radio as if it were all normal!

So now, I challenge Michael Schumacher. If he’s still miffed about skipping the Formula One scene, I extend him a warm welcome to the uncertain terrain of Harare city driving.

Oh, Schumie, I know you would just love to test your skills on our very special stretch of decrepit tarmac. And if the city council does nothing to repair the roads before the rainy season begins, well the potholes will be so much bigger for you to swerve past! And yes, the kombi driver behind you will still somehow try to overtake you as you negotiate your way around.

Who needs twists and straights when you can have craters and kombi drivers?

This entry was posted on August 17th, 2009 at 2:33 pm by Fungai Machirori and is filed under Reflections, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.