The Associated Press Italian driver Alex
Zanardi, center, is carried by German doctors to the
helicopter after an accident with Canadian driver Alex
Tagliani.
By Mike Harris
The Associated Press
As Alex Zanardi lies in a hospital bed in Berlin following a
nearly fatal, career-ending injury, many in the sport are thinking
about the man who transcended his role as a race car driver.
The 34-year-old driver, born Alessandro Zanardi in Bologna,
Italy, lost both legs in a crash Saturday in a CART race in
Germany.
While his family, friends and acquaintances wait restlessly and
pray for his recovery, the memory of this intelligent, funny and
perceptive man is what keeps many going. Even those in other racing
circuits have been deeply touched by him and believe he will
overcome the tragedy.
“He’s a great person, and we’re all praying
for him,” said NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon.
Zanardi came onto the CART scene in 1996 after failing to find a
regular ride in Formula One. He was Chip Ganassi’s discovery,
a grand find by the car owner went on to unprecedented four
straight CART championships ““ two of them by the man known
universally in the Champ car series simply as Alex.
He won three races, took Rookie of the Year honors, and got his
first title the next season. Zanardi was named to the 12-man roster
for the 1998 International Race of Champions series ““ an
all-star circuit encompassing open-wheel, stock car and sports car
racing.
The first time he walked to the pit lane to test an IROC car,
another of the all-stars ““ Gordon ““ was waiting.
As Zanardi strolled toward Gordon, he turned to a companion and
said, “I must introduce myself.”
Instead, Gordon rushed up, smiling, his right hand outstretched
and said, “Alex, you are my hero.”
The stunned Zanardi stopped in his tracks and stared while
Gordon added, “I can’t believe some of the things
you’ve done in a race car. “˜The Pass’ was
incredible.”
Anybody who saw it, in person or on TV, knew exactly what Gordon
was talking about.
On the final lap of the 1996 race in Monterey, Calif., Zanardi
made one of the most spectacular moves in the history of racing. He
shot past a stunned Bryan Herta by driving off the track and back
on at The Corkscrew, a downhill, blind switchback and one of the
most famous turns in American racing.
Asked later why he even tried such a reckless move, Zanardi
shrugged and grinned.
“I practiced it and knew I could do it,” he
said.
Besides his racing prowess, a Zanardi trademark has been his
intelligence and a rare sense of humor that has helped him become a
favorite among his peers.
Jimmy Vasser, his teammate for three years on the Ganassi team
and one of his closest friends, credited Zanardi with making him a
better driver.
“You know, he never gives up on himself,” Vasser
said. “No matter what goes wrong, what happens on the race
track or off of it, Alex goes after it.
“He’s a totally positive influence and he just kept
telling me, “˜Jimmy, you’re better than you think you
are.’ Finally, I began to believe him.”
For the fans, though, the most memorable thing about Zanardi has
been the doughnuts.
The driver drew the ire of CART officials and wild cheering from
the fans in Portland, Ore., in 1996, when he celebrated his first
CART victory with a tire-smoking series of spins, known as
doughnuts.
Even in the face of fines and threats of worse from CART,
Zanardi couldn’t resist remaining the “Doughnut
Man” after each of his 15 CART victories.
He left to give his first love ““ Formula One ““ one
more try in 1999. But the adjustment was just too hard, and Zanardi
put himself into a one-year exile from racing in 2000, staying home
in Monte Carlo with his wife, Daniela, and now 3-year-old son,
Niccola.
“Mostly, all I did last year was change diapers,”
Zanardi said, smiling, after returning to CART for the 2001 season
with Morris Nunn, his former Ganassi engineer and now a team
owner.
“You know, things hadn’t really been going all that
well, but the old Alex has been emerging lately,” Nunn said
just two weeks before the crash in the American Memorial 500.
Zanardi was leading before losing control while emerging from
the pits late in the race. The car spun across the high-speed oval
like a brightly colored target.
One car just missed, but Alex Tagliani sliced through the
cockpit of Zanardi’s car at about 200 mph, cutting it in
half.
Tagliani, trying to get ready for Sunday’s race in
Rockingham, England, thinks constantly of Zanardi.
“When I take a shower, when I brush my teeth, every five
minutes I have this image of him,” Tagliani said.