Usain Bolt, the world's fastest human, realised another of his dreams yesterday, but this time around it was behind the wheel of one of the world's fastest machines, a Ferrari F430 modena sports car.
Bolt, who set world records in the 100m (9.69) and 200m (19.30) events at the Summer Olympics in Beijing, drove on part of the course for the Monaco Grand Prix, a Formula One motor race.
"It was good ... awesome," were the words first gushed by Bolt. "Hopefully in the future, I can own a Ferrari," he said.
Custom made BMW
The athlete arrived in Monaco last Friday, from Germany, where he had just completed BMW driving lessons at the BMW 'M' driver school. His custom-made BMW, which sponsor Puma bought for his 22nd birthday, is expected to arrive in Jamaica within two weeks.
However, Bolt's agent Ricky Simms made it clear yesterday's sporting in the Ferrari F430, stacked with an impressive 490 hp engine, was nothing more than some fun for his athlete.
Fun driving a Ferrari
"The guy just wanted to have fun driving a Ferrari and that was all about it," said Simms, responding to questions about the appearance being a possible endorsement deal for his star athlete.
"We hired this car. We paid a fee (90 euro per hour). Anyone can do it. He always wanted to drive a Ferrari because he loves cars," added Simms.
"He has no endorsement with BMW or Ferrari. We are looking for an endorsement with a car company. We are talking to some car companies, but nothing has been finalised yet," he said.