Alex Zanardi dead, the former pilot and Paralympic athlete was 59 years old

Alex Zanardi has passed away at the age of 59: former car driver (44 races in F.1), extraordinary Paralympic athlete, after losing both legs in an accident on the track in 2001, an example of resistance and love for life. On 19 June 2020, during a charity handbike relay he was involved in an accident near Pienza. Return home in 2021.

childhood and motors

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Talent and character, since he was a child. Born in Bologna in October 1966, Alessandro Zanardi grew up in a humble background, with his mother Anna, a seamstress, and his father Dino, a plumber. While still very young he moved with his family to Castel Maggiore, where he grew up passionate about Formula 1 in a land of engines and speed. A passion initially opposed by the family, especially after the death of his older sister Cristina, who died in 1979 due to a car accident. In the life of Alessandro, for all Alex, engines were already something more than an interest that could be stopped: they were a direction. His. The first vehicle arrived relatively late, especially when compared with the increasingly faster times of modern motorsport: at fourteen his father Dino gave him a kart with which Alex began to have fun with his friends, making his debut in a first professional race in 1980 in Vado. The first participation in a national championship, in the 100cc category, was in 1982: few resources, the father in the role of mechanic and the first promising results. The decisive step in his career came in 1988, with his debut in Italian Formula 3 at the wheel of a Dallara-Alfa Romeo: these were uphill years, full of growth, disappointments but also early successes. In 1991 the transition to Formula 3000, another step towards opening the doors of Formula 1, which he crossed with the first test at the wheel of a Footwork Arrows single-seater. From that moment on, things, as often happens in motorsport, began to move faster and faster: again in 1991 with the Jordan team, at the Spanish Grand Prix, Zanardi made his debut in F1 replacing the driver Roberto Moreno in the third to last round of the championship. His Formula 1 career continued for three more seasons: with Minardi in 1992, with Lotus in 1993 and 1994. His best result was a sixth place obtained with Lotus in ’93 and in total he contested 44 Grands Prix. Left without a contract in 1995, Zanardi quickly became passionate about American racing and made his debut in 1996 in the CART championship (now IndyCar), immediately achieving great results with the victory of two consecutive titles in 1997 and 1998. In 1999 he returned to Formula 1 with Williams but the season, which was immediately difficult for the Italian, would be his last in the top series before returning to American racing.

the second life

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It was in 2001 that Zanardi made his long-awaited return to the CART category, in a year destined to change his life forever. 15 September 2001 Lausitzring, Germany: Starting from the back, Zanardi built a constant comeback, overtaking his rivals lap after lap until he took the lead of the race. With thirteen laps to go, immediately after the last pit stop, the car loses grip, betrayed by liquids on the track, and becomes uncontrollable. The car turns suddenly, crosses the road and remains exposed just as Patrick Carpentier and Alex Tagliani arrive at full speed. The first manages to avoid the impact, the second has no room to do so. The impact is devastating: Tagliani’s car hits Zanardi’s in the front area, at the most vulnerable point. The force of the impact was such that it literally broke the car in two. He remained in a medically induced coma for four days and his condition, which immediately appeared desperate, led him to receive extreme unction. After the accident, he only had one liter of blood left in his body compared to the five of an adult man. But Alex’s story was yet to be written: he improved day by day, surprising the doctors themselves, facing fifteen operations with courage and fortitude. The hardest test, however, is accepting the double amputation of the legs, a clear image of a life destined to change forever. Thus began a tough rehabilitation phase for Zanardi which did not extinguish, not even for a second, his passion for sport, speed and engines: in 2003 he returned to the German circuit where he had been the victim of the terrible accident two years earlier, to symbolically retrace the remaining 13 laps of the 2001 race aboard a specially modified car. In the following years he continued to race between Gran Turismo and WTCC.

Paralympic successes

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“The accident gave me the opportunity to do things that perhaps in another life I would never have had the opportunity to try.” With this spirit Zanardi faced his second life, launching himself into an extraordinary career in handbikes and quickly transforming himself into one of the world’s leading athletes. The debut came in 2007 with the New York marathon, finishing with a surprising fourth place, a result that marked the beginning of a completely new competitive journey. From that moment on, the progression was constant: in 2010 he won the Italian road title, while in 2011 he highlighted himself at the Roskilde World Championships with a silver in the time trial and a fifth place in the road race. Also in 2011 came one of the symbolic moments of his new career: the victory in the New York marathon, accompanied by the category record. A few months later he repeats himself in Rome, where he not only wins but also sets the course record. 2012 represents the pinnacle of his Paralympic parable. At the London Games he won three medals: two golds, in the time trial and in the road race, and a silver in the mixed relay. In the following years he continued to dominate the international scene: between World Cups and World Championships, he collected titles in both time trials and road trials, often accompanied by his teammates in the mixed relay. In 2016 he repeated himself at the Rio Olympics: two gold medals and a silver, at the age of fifty, once again proving his infinite spirit of adaptation, his strength and a character which – by his own admission – allowed him to start again in the face of any challenge.

the darkness

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However, fate, with that boy from Castel Maggiore, seemed not to have finished yet. On 19 June 2020, during a charity handbike relay organized in support of the fight against Coronavirus, he was involved in a new dramatic accident: near Pienza, along the SS146, he lost control of the vehicle and collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction. Urgently transported to the Le Scotte polyclinic in Siena, he underwent a complex neurosurgical and maxillofacial operation. His conditions immediately appeared critical, with hospitalization in intensive care and a reserved prognosis. In the following days he was operated on three more times and, on 21 July, he was transferred to a specialized center in Lecco to begin the rehabilitation process. On July 24, however, due to some complications, he had to be taken back to intensive care, this time at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan. The conditions, slowly improving, led the doctors to decide in November of the same year for an initial transfer to the Padua Hospital, where in January 2021 he regained consciousness. In December of the same year he was able to return home, alongside his wife Daniela and his son Niccolò. It is there that he spent his last years, alongside the affection of those closest to him, in a media silence that always indicated his serious and precarious health conditions. Yet another challenge in a life full of storms, which Zanardi faced with courage and strength. Until the end.