Two-time CART Series champion and Paralympian gold medalist Alex Zanardi passed away. He was 59.
The personable Italian was a driver who was popular among fans but later proved to be an example to many with his grit and perseverance after a racing accident caused massive injuries to his legs, requiring amputation. Undeterred, he went on to establish a career as an elite Paralympian in hand cycling and triathlon.
“Alex Zanardi was a magnificent INDYCAR Series champion and his remarkable abilities on track are legendary and timeless,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said in a statement. “His list of wins and accomplishments run alongside an even more impressive legacy of courage, inspiration and determination, which he showed during his life’s journey.”
Zanardi was a constant visitor to victory lane after switching from Formula 1 to American open wheel racing in 1996. He won 15 races and two titles for Chip Ganassi Racing, teaming with Jimmy Vasser to be a dominant force in the early years of the IRL/CART Split.
In 1999, he decided to return to Formula 1 with Williams, but he found little success in a one-year program. After he was let go at the end of the year, the former champion returned to CART in 2001 driving for his race engineer-turned car owner Mo Nunn.
It was with this team that while in contention for victory at the post-9/11 Eurospeedway Lausitz race, he spun exiting the pits with 11 laps to go. His car was pierced by Alex Tagliani at full speed, and the resulting injuries were severe. Zanardi rehabilitated but lost his legs and never raced again in IndyCar.
Undeterred, the Italian transitioned to handcycling, competing at multiple Paralympic Games, winning gold at London and Rio de Janeiro.
While a bright spot during the reigning open wheel feud between CART and the Indy Racing League, the contentious split robbed Zanardi from competing in the Indianapolis 500. Between 1996 to 2001, Ganassi and Team Penske jumped over to compete in the rival series. It was the driver that replaced him at Ganassi, Juan Montoya, that won the 2000 Indy 500. Zanardi’s team in 2001, Mo Nunn Racing, ran the Memorial Day Classic in 2002, having a shot to win with rookie Tony Kanaan.
Never taking a run at Indy, Zanardi is perhaps one of the best American open wheel drivers to not compete in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
That hole in his resume didn’t prevent him from being a fan favorite, on both sides of the split. His famous maneuver on Bryan Herta at Laguna Seca’s Corkscrew lives on to the modern day, and he is celebrated when the contemporary IndyCar Series visits the track each year. Due to his personality, sponsor Target produced entertaining commercials featuring both Zanardi and Vasser, in a day when the series still had a presence in American markets.
While the split went on, Zanardi was able to rise above and drive American open wheel racing on into the future.
Tom is an IndyCar writer at Frontstretch, joining in March 2023. Besides writing the IndyCar Previews and frequent editions of Inside IndyCar, he will hop on as a fill-in guest on the Open Wheel podcast The Pit Straight. A native Hoosier, he calls Fort Wayne home. Follow Tom on Twitter @TomBlackburn42.
Rest in peace Alex❤️. Loved watching him race and his passion for life even after his accident.
Well said. Kept racing and competing, never giving up. Treated his prosthetics like race car setup. Page torn out of the open wheel record books when he got hurt.