Zanardi’s F1 career came in two parts. The first, with the decaying ruins of Lotus, lasted from 1992-4 and yielded very little. In 1993 he suffered a shocking accident at Spa-Francorchamps when his active suspension system failed and was unable to participate in the rest of the season. His seat was taken by Pedro Lamy, and when Lamy himself was injured at Silverstone in testing the following year Zanardi got his seat back.
He moved to Champ Cars and won the 1997 and 1998 titles for Chip Ganassi Racing, before returning to Formula One in a high-profile deal with Williams for 1999. But he struggled greatly with the grooved-tyre, narrow-track cars and cut short his two-year contract at the end of just one season.
He returned to Champ Car racing but disaster struck in 2001 at the Lausitzring, when he spun while returning to the track and was struck almost head on by Alex Tagliani. The horrifying accident robbed him of both his legs, yet in a tremendous feat of recovery he now races in the World Touring Car Championship in a specially modified BMW.
Books about Alessandro Zanardi
Leave a Reply