The London Paralympic Games begins on Wednesday and F1 fans should keep an eye open for the adventures of Alex Zanardi. The 45-year-old Italian first broke into Formula 1 with the 7Up Jordan team at the end of 1991, when he replaced Roberto Moreno for the final three races of the season. At the time he was the Formula 3000 Champion. He scored two ninth places, a very decent start at the time, but he had no money and so did not reappear until Minardi called him in to replace an injured Christian Fittipaldi for a number of races. The following year he was signed as team-mate to Johnny Herbert at Team Lotus and he scored his first (and only) World Championship point in Brazil in 1993. In the middle of the year the team ran out of cash and he was dropped to make room for a pay-driver, but he returned in 1994, although by then the team was in dire financial trouble and results were almost impossible to achieve.
In consequence he went to the United States in 1996 and raced with Chip Ganassi in CART, winning the title in 1997 and 1998. His success in America led to a second chance in F1 with Williams in 1999. The relationship never gelled and while his team-mate Ralf Schumacher finished on the podium several times, Zanardi never managed better than seventh. The team lost faith and the three-year deal was terminated at the end of the first year, which opened the way for Jenson Button to make his F1 debut. Zanardi went back to the United States in 2001 and was racing with Mo Nunn Racing when he was involved in a dreadful accident at the Lausitzring in Germany when he spun and was T-boned by Alex Tagliani. Zanardi lost both legs in the impact but his life was saved by medical crews, who rushed him by helicopter to hospital in Berlin, where he arrived with very little blood left in his system.
He returned to racing in 2003, with artificial legs, while also starting his own karting company, which has enjoyed much success. Between 2005 and 2009 Alex raced in the World Touring Car Championship in the BMW factory team, winning four races. He even returned to try a specially-adapted Sauber BMW F1 car in November 2006, using hand controls.
While he was still racing he started competing in handcycling events, finishing fourth in the New York Marathon in 2007 and winning the Venice Marathon in 2009 and Rome in 2010. In 2011 he won the New York Marathon and earlier this year was named as a member of the Italian team for the London Paralympics. He will compete in three handcycling road events, all of them to be held at the Brands Hatch racing circuit in Kent. The Men’s Individual Time Trial will be on September 5. The Men’s Individual Road Race will be on September 7 and the Mixed Team Relay will take place on September 8.
Amazing person, indeed. I believe it was Tagliani who made the impact with Zanardi that day. Carpentier was his teammate at the time (Players Racing)
Yes.
Of course I am shouting for the athletes from the motherland. However, I have nothing but admiration for Alex and wish him well en route to the silver medal (no offence Italian friends!)
Yes I shall be watching, hopefully Channel 4 will be showing and interviewing winners of all nationalities, after the shameful xenophobia of the BBC olympic coverage.
An inspiration to all who have crashed and lost legs, incredible to race competitively again.
Shameful xenophobia?
Are we not to support our own athletes in a big way?
Have you ever seen olympic coverage from another country, esp. U.S. or France? Then you might notice some bias.
Having watched the Olympics in France I have to say that I concur with this. If it wasn’t French or Usain Bolt there was not a lot of coverage.
The same in the US. It was shameful
Same with the free-to-air coverage in Australia. Which was on the appalling side of righteously appalling.
Ha China coverage was well insane when i did watch Beeb after first 3 days I had enough and turned off
Peter C
Yes absolutely support our own athletes! But if some other country wins and we get silver or bronze or nothing, at least lets see who the winner was and hear the winner interviewed as well as our guys/girls and not just pretend that only our own was/were competing and no one else exists.
It was quite obvious that only UK competitors were allowed to be interviewed. It was not British fair play and it definitely is not what should be aspired to.
That many of the standards that I was brought up to acknowledge as “good manners” have disappeared over the last 15-20 years, is sadly universally accepted, but this public demonstration by the BBC of the lack of equality between nations in Olympic sport I found jingoistic and abhorrent.
I agree. I watched a few gp’s in Peru a couple of years ago which got it’s coverage from Spain. You’d think the only drivers were Alonso, Alguersuari, and HRT. It was astonishingly biased.
“He will compete in three handcycling road events, all of them to be held at the Brands Hatch racing circuit in Kent.”
Wow free-wheeling down Paddock Hill bend has got to be something special, (It’s daunting enough the first time you do it in a car!) max speed needed to carry uphill into Druids, then down again into Clark and after that it’s a bit more gradual in elevation change, to Mcleans then into Clearways and a long slow drag uphill past the start-line to Paddock again. Exhausted thinking about it.
You know some of the corners at Brands, but Mcleans………………?
Yes its 20 years or so since I was there, I screwed that up completely! Of course from Druids its down into Graham Hill then almost level long Cooper straight (which isn’t straight) “Mclaren” (Of course McLeans is at Donington) Clearways, Clark and back.
I wonder do these guys on hand cycles use brakes? There are two hard braking places in a car.
They do: http://www4.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Heinz+Frei+Paralympics+Day+6+Cycling+Road+zP5zTPyA8srx.jpg
If I was Zanardi I wouldn’t want to free-wheel down Paddock Hill – I’d be on it pedalling furiously
I believe the track is being used backwards for these events. I wonder if they had to choose a hilly track to make it more difficult?
And another inspirational person has just got married again in a ski chalet. Lawyers and accountants will be putting deposits on second yachts in anticipation.
I don’t do weddings and babies.
I think this wedding could have a long term effect on F1.
Another inheritor for F1s assets, I feel. Not much chance of a baby, though.
Zanardi is an inspiration, not to mention one competitive guy in all he does. Suffering similar life altering changes how many of us would just curl up and cry “Why me” and wallow in self pity?
Not Alex, from day one of his tragedy he was all about gratitude for being alive and carrying on with life under his new reality.
Much has been made over the medical improvements in treating F1 casualties; the group that saved Alex’s life is a story unto itself.
He’s an amazing guy. I wish him all the best.
I remember watching a few stories/interviews after he lost his legs. His positive outlook was truly remarkable.
Inspirational human being is right.
Class act, incredible guy. Shows you what determination some of these drivers possess. He’s already won. Unfortunately there is not enough coverage of the Para Games, have’nt heard much in North America. That needs to change perhaps more integration into regular games, I’d rather see these guys than Beach volleyball or other peripheral sports but the world seems to thrive on reality tv and shock news rather than ‘Inspirational Human beings’. I hope the pendulum starts swinging the other way soon!!!! Maybe Prince Harry could help, ironically he was on the news reading off a teleprompter in regard to the paralympics just the inspiration the world needs, taped before the fiasco and now a tool to restore his credibility rather than promote the athletes. It’s a mad(insane) world.
NBC are showing six hours of Paralympic coverage.
Over here in Blighty channel four, a commercial terrestrial channel, are showing the games live. The London Paralympics are sold out for the first time in history.
Already a row about wheelchair users having to book via a premium rate phone number, whereas others don’t.
Zanardi’s story is indeed an inspirational one. He had great success in the States first time around and I was so sorry that his return to F1 was not successful. The accident was tragic and horrendous to watch, but what he has gone on to achieve is incredible. A truly inspirational human being, and a lovely guy.
Your headline says it all for Alex, Joe.
Let’s hope for his sake that Brands Hatch will not be a repeat from the time he races F3000 and crashed @ Paddock Hill during practise and his Dallara whereby his car/tub broke in two bits.
Cheers for the dates Joe. I was looking for them myself to catch Alex hopefully winning a medal!
A true hero. Thanks Joe.
Definitely one of the most inspiring athletes ever…
Why Zanardi didn’t do better in F1 was a mystery to me. I recall that in his first race for Jordan (which was, let’s be honest, a decent car in ’91) he chased down and then overtook Schumacher in the Benetton. It looked then as if Eddy Jordan had managed to find two young hot shots in one season. He did very well in CART, but was dismal at Williams. Maybe the wrong team for him – not everybody responded well to their “kick up the jacksie” style of management.
OK… we all know that CART and F1 are very different things, and success in one does not guarantee success in the other, but Villeneuve had moved from F1 to CART and become champion, Mansell had moved the other way and become champion (before having a 2nd season notable for not many wins and getting up lots of noses), so there was real hope that Zanardi would do well.
I seem to remember Zanardi had issues with the Carbon brakes? whether in general or just on the williams i am unsure. I think they replaced them with CART style Steel brakes, so major disadvantage. This is a vague memory so i may be wrong
I don’t know how much truth is in it but I have read it once or twice, that Alex struggled with the grooved tyres when he came to Williams in 99, a shame because he is a great bloke.
Got the Villeneuve and Mansell stories reversed there, Bob.
Facepalm!
The word hero is often bandied about for those who often aren’t worthy of it but in Alex’s case it’s well deserved and despite being a Brit will cheer him on.. I don’t think he ever really got a fair change in F1 but his indycar drives were often out of this world with some truly amazing moves (Laguna Seca!) but it was those 13 laps that cemented his place for me….
Just reading your reference to the 13 laps sent a shiver down me. Maybe the single most emotional thing I’ve seen in sport.
I seem to remember that Zanardi wiped out at Spa in a Lotus at Eau rouge. I think he walked away from that one. I thought he had cojones of steel to get back in the car after that. I really rated him as a driver and his success Stateside was well deserved.
Zanardi >> Armstrong.
Both are amazing, and I see no reason to discredit either one of them. Sometimes two people can exist on a plane of equal greatness… despite differences in their stories.
Neil or Lance?
At my parents house, he is known as ‘Our Alex’. The mention of his name usually brings on collective ‘aaaahhhhs’; we just adore him. Before his accident, we rated him as a hero. After, he became a legend.
I agree with all of your comments above, I’d just like to add that he co-wrote (with journalist Gianluca Gasparini) a very funny and moving book about his life and career up to and after the accident. The frank style helps understanding what really drives him. I believe the book has been translated in English as well as “My Story” although I hope the content didn’t get toned down the way the title did – original one reads similar to “Zanardi from Castel Maggiore… Not bad”.
This is beyond the main point of the article, which I completely agree with, but in the interests of accuracy Zanardi wasn\’t Formula 3000 champion in 1991 – he was a contender but eventually lost the title to Christian Fittipaldi. He was replaced at Lotus in 1993 following a heavy accident at Eau Rouge and his replacement was Pedro Lamy, who at the time was a leading contender in F3000 and had been German F3 champion the year before, so not exactly the usual profile of a pay driver.
just seen…he only went and won!!.. Inspirational is the title of this article..It should be INSPIRATIONAL!!!(Shouted from the rooftops..)..Well done Alex……