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You may recall the horrible accident that cost him his legs, and almost cost him
his life. "I escaped death two years ago," Zanardi said. "Although the situation
was so difficult then, I made it my goal to lead a normal life again."
Going into the
CART American Memorial race in Lausitz, Germany, September 15, 2001, Zanardi
seemingly had it all. The 1996 CART Rookie of the Year, Zanardi won the series
title in 1997 and 1998 while driving for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing. Zanardi was
only the third back-to-back CART FedEx Championship Series champion in history.
In all, he racked up an incredible 15 wins and 28 podium finishes over his
three-year run with the team, compiling the best winning percentage (.294) in
CART history.
He left the
series to drive for the Williams Formula 1 team for
the 1999 season, then took the 2000 season off to enjoy a one-year "sabbatical"
with his wife Daniela and son Niccolo. Zanardi had decided to return to the CART
series in 2001.
It was CART's
inaugural race in Lausitz, Germany. Zanardi was leading the race at the
Lausitzring, and he was exiting from pit lane after getting fuel and a new set
of tires.
In an effort to
gain track position, he hit the throttle hard. The Honda-Reynard car spun, and
while he managed to keep it off the wall, it came to a stop in the middle of the
track in a vulnerable sideways position.
The Canadian
driver Alex Tagliani was coming out of turn four at that time with speeds in
excess of 200 mph (320 kph). He had no opportunity to react and avoid contact.
The nose of his car caught Zanardi's just in front of the cockpit. The impact
destroyed Zanardi's car. Zanardi lost both legs, four liters of blood and he
remained in critical condition for days.
Even with the
immediate help of the emergency crew and doctors, Zanardi was not expected to
live. No one ever imagined he would be walking, let alone one day piloting a
race car.
The eyes of a racer -- Alex Zanardi's focus
After seeing a replay of
the crash, Zanardi said "I can see that I was opening my shield, my helmet, and
then trying to undo my belt, so there was a time when I must have been awake and
must have realized what had happened. I must have said, "Man, it's going to be
tough to fix this (car).' But I don't remember any of that. I don't know if it
was because of all the blood I lost or if it is just human nature that when it
is too bad, it tells you. "We're going to erase that information.'"
"Obviously my first goal
was related to my life quality which I wanted to improve because the very first
day I stepped on prosthetic legs it was terrible, there was so much pain,"
Zanardi said. "To me, this is a new life, and every day that I do something new,
it's a little win. I am the only crowd. There is no crowd like when I won Long
Beach ... but still, it's an achievement for me. Every time I achieve a result I
realize that I am fighting, that I am improving, and so it's a reason for me to
smile."
On October 19, Zanardi
will demonstrate his tremendous courage and determination -- achieving his goal
of leading a normal life again -- when he competes for the BMW Italy-Spain team
in a BMW 320i car at the FIA European Touring Car
Championship (ETCC) race in Monza, Italy.
Zanardi's BMW 320i for the ETCC
The BMW 320i was specially
designed by BMW for Alex Zanardi. With most of the driving functions in a video
game style handset on the steering wheel, Zanardi's BMW will have its
accelerator and clutch attached to the steering wheel. The additional hand
controls make it possible for Zanardi to drive without legs.
This will not be the first
time Zanardi has taken the wheel since his terrible accident. He has already
raced in a specially modified CART champ car, returning to the Lausitzring to
drive the 13 laps required to "complete" the race that ended his career. That
sense of completion is yet another aspect of Zanardi's remarkable courage and
determination.
While Zanardi feels that
his outing in Italy will be his last race, BMW spokeswoman Heike Bartsch said
"if everything goes well, there could be talks in the future about [Alex] racing
again." Don’t count him out, for he’s already proven himself a champion on and
off the track.
"They [race
car drivers] will say no, I love what I do. They will say it is my life, the
risk is not so high and it is my intention to continue as long as I can do it,
as long as I can be competitive and as long as I like it. It is the same for
me."
Getting behind the wheel
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