PITCHING IN

Pitching In
JOHANN DACAWI
(Johann is the son of Ramon Dacawi who is now based in Italy. – ed)

Our formula for a perfect Sunday We don't own a car. I haven't got a driver’s license so I don't drive. I remember two years back, before Lukie took the yellow school bus, he asked me why we didn't have wheels. We used a run down bicycle with a kiddy chair at the back while the other kids were driven to school in their parents' cars.

Nevertheless, I am very proud to declare that I am the president of our growing Ferrari fans club here in Italy. We gather every Grand Prix Sunday of Formula One to watch, enjoy, celebrate or console each other if we lose. Club members include a lovely housewife. A five year old boy who, by the age of three, could tell you all the names of the drivers and their nationalities, the teams and their sponsors and all the names of the circuits and their flags. The newest member, a very promising tot, is nine-month old Dylan James. Did I already mention our club is growing?

This Grand Prix season was one of the greatest in the history of Formula One. Rookie Hamilton and the Spy story dominated the headlines. Last Sunday, at the track called Interlagos in Sao Paolo, Brazil, the deciding final race of the season, Ferrari drove a perfect race!

While all the cars were running behind the safety car for the warm up lap, my wife handed over Dylan, who was in a sling, to me. I gently placed him on my back as the cars were now taking their respective places on the grid. On pole was Massa, followed by Hamilton, on the second row were Raikonen and Alonso, and the rest behind them.

There was a knock on the door. It was my sister-in-law Danica, a prospective recruit, and she was just on time. Ica entered the kitchen to help her sister, who was cooking pansit, because later we would celebrate. Everybody was nervous, all eyes were on the TV and asthe red lights went off. . . . ‘twas go go go!

The red cars made a very good start, Massa held his position while his teammate quickly drove to second place.The F1 world forgot Hamilton was a rookie and as a rookie he makes mistakes. On the forth turn he went wide trying to pass team mate Alonso.

Later on, his car would develop a technical problem and placed him last in the standings. Being a Ferraristi, I felt sorry for him. I punched my right fist onto the air and shouted "SI!". A fan member’s finger pushed the back of my head. Noticing it was Lovelyn, I gave her aquestion mark look. She pointed at my back. I didn't know the youngest fan club member had fallen asleep.

Before the cars went in for their first pit stop, the excitement in the living room had not changed. As I was nervously watching, Lovelyn and Danica were seated at the table catching up with their gossip and Lukie found a small ball and started to play football on his own. Lovelyn remembered something important she forgot to do - give Lukie a hair cut. I thought this was a great idea, because I could watch without a ball hitting me and Lukie blocking my view. As Raikonen recorded the fastest lap, someone was pulling my hair!

The baby woke up and wanted to watch. I took him out of the marsupial and placed him on my lap. His eyes were on the two red cars on the TV. At the other corner of the room, a mother and son were arguing. My wife, while snipping away hair, was reminding his young client to stop moving.

I had to put down Dylan when the race was on its half way mark. He started wriggling and threatened to cry when he saw a plastic golf club he wanted to chew on the floor. When I placed him down he grabbed onto my knee for support. After bracing himself, he started to walk. From my estimate, Dylan walked a full seven steps to reach the toy before he fell on his bum. What a marvelous feat! Yet no one congratulated this poor baby for a job well done.

At lap 57, Hamilton was catching up fast. He only needed to finish fifth to become the youngest world champ ever. I was praying Hamilton's car would malfunction again when Lukie started to cry. He was complaining that his haircut was taking up too much of his time, while his mother was now angrily reminding him to sit still. Danica on the other hand was watching us in amazement.

Massa just got out the pit again and Raikonen was ordered to run for 3 more laps before coming in for fuel and tires. When Raikonen was back onto the race track he took the lead.

With ten laps to go, Raikonen was first, followed by Massa then Alonso. Hamilton was at 7th but aggressively targeting 5th place. My son's ordeal was over. He was smiling because hefelt handsome. Without a direct order from my wife, I ran to get the vacuum cleaner and started to take the hair off the floor. When I finished cleaning, Raikonen took the checkered flag and Ferrari won! Only one point singled out Kimi from Hamilton and Alonso, who both had 109 points.

I muted the TV while they were celebrating and spraying the champagne. Everyone was hungry. We were all seated at the table, the pansit was there and tropical juice. After we said grace, we started to eat. Everybody was happy