Zanardi: “Inspiration” is His Middle Name
Alessandro “Alex” Zanardi who was involved in a horrendous racing accident in 2001 at EuroSpeedway in Lausitz, Germany that cost him both legs will make a triumphant return behind the wheel of an F1 car in late November.
Zanardi has been cleared for the test in a modified BMW Sauber F1 machine during the Formula BMW World Final at the Valencia, Spain F1 circuit.
The test will be conducted in a modified BMW Sauber F1.06 that features a special brake pedal, which has been moved to the right side of the cockpit. To accelerate the car, Zanardi will use the shifting paddle on the left rear side of the steering wheel.
“First of all I would like to say thank you to BMW for this opportunity,” said Zanardi. “That’s just amazing for me. Of course, I know that I won’t get a contract with the Formula One team. However, having the chance to drive an F1 racer again is just incredible.
“Formula One is all about development speed. Therefore, I’m really excited to see what has changed since my last Grand Prix in 1999. I can call myself a very happy man, as I turned my passion into my profession. Despite having been a race driver for quite a while now, I still feel the fire burning in me.
Zanardi’s Formula One career consisted of two starts for Jordan in 1991 and a couple fill-in slots for Minardi in 1992. For the ‘93 and ‘94 seasons he signed on with the Lotus team and played an active role in developing the team’s active suspension system.
When Lotus’ F1 effort went belly-up at the end of the year, Zanardi spent a brief time in Sports car racing in 1995, his Formula One career apparently over.
In ‘96, Zanardi made the switch to CART (now CCWS), signing a contract with Chip Ganassi Racing and won three events in his rookie year, finishing second in the championship. The last event of the year at Laguna Seca featured what has become known as The Pass by open wheel fans as Zanardi passed race leader Bryan Herta in the famous Corkscrew turn in a highly risky maneuver.
He would win the championship for Ganassi in both 1997 and 1998, bringing home twelve victories.
The Zanardi name became synonymous with spinning, tire smoking, celebrations that left hot black donuts on the tarmac, a practice that has migrated to the current generation of NASCAR stars.
The two CART championships caught the eye of Sir Frank Williams and Alex moved back into F1 under a three-year contract in 1999. Much like the curent edition of the F1 Williams his was saddled with a car that was plagued by numerous reliability issues - and was consistently outpaced by team-mate Ralf Schumacher - he was replaced by Jenson Button for the 2000 campaign.
Out of F1 Zanardi returned to CART with a team, interesting enough, run by Mo Nunn. Nunn had been with Ganassi as race engineer when Alex was considered for that ride. He advised Chip against signing him, as he believed Italian drivers were too prone to mistakes.
Then tragedy struck September 15th in Germany. As the first major sporting event held after the attacks of 9/11 the event was renamed the American Memorial 500.
Alex was leading and was attempting to merge back onto the track after a pitstop. When he attempted to accelerate and spun into the path of Alex Tagliani, who was traveling at over 180mph. The near-fatal collision cost Zanardi both legs, amputated above the knee.
Undaunted, Alex returned to what nearly killed him. He made his first appearance behind the wheel of a race car at EuroSpeedway driving final thirteen laps in an endurance sports car race and was highly competitive for that short duration test.
Zanardi has since raced in the highly competitive World Touring Car Championship capturing his first win last August at the wheel of a BMW 320i. He currently stands 11th in the Drivers Championship with BMW leading the Manufacturers Championship.
BMW motorsport boss Mario Theissen had this to say about Zanardi’s return behind the wheel of an F1 car: “Alessandro Zanardi is a truly impressive character,” said BMW motorsport boss Mario Theissen. “With an unprecedented show of will and dedication, he fought his way back into motor racing and now proves in the WTCC that he is able to win races at the highest level.”
“It was rather a joke when he asked me at the beginning of the year, if he could do an F1 test with us. We will give him this chance now, the engineers made it possible. I cannot wait to watch his reaction after the test.”
Alessandro, “Alex” to those of us on the “correct” side of the Atlantic, deserves every bit of respect and admiration that comes his way. All that are forced by nature, or a stroke of fate, that live with life altering handicaps can learn much from Alex.
The Half-Vast Staff
Another piece of AZ trivia, in 91 along with his Jordan rides he also tested for Benetton. When Moreno was dumped for Michael Schumacher at Monza, team “leader” Nelson Piquet was enraged that his friend had been discarded & his position in the team was being undermined. A huge fight between Briatore/Walkinshaw & Piquet raged & in the back ground was legal action from Jordan over the “theft” of Schumacher. Never one to muck around - & taking the threat of Piquet resigning or having to fire Nelson - Briatore grabbed AZ. AZ would have taken the start in Piquet’s absence & was ready to go, alas, it was not to be. AZ may have missed all those wasted years at Lotus had the Benetton deal gone through. Who knows? He would have seen out 91 at Benetton & in 92 may have had the ride instead of Brundle. Interesting speculation……….funny how the dealer can deal the cards from the deck.
I deleted the section on Benetton after realizing how long this post had gotten.
I had forgotten about the legal hassles that accompanied that episode.
Thanks for the edition Peter.
Profile in Courage: Alex Zanardi…
Alessandro “Alex” Zanardi who was involved in a horrendous racing accident in 2001 at EuroSpeedway in Lausitz, Germany that cost him both legs will make a triumphant return behind the wheel of an F1 car in late November.
Zanardi has been cl…