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Alessandro Zanardi

Alex Zanardi
Alessandro Zanardi 2007 Curitiba.jpg
Zanardi during the 2007 WTCC season
Nationality Italy Italian
Born Alessandro Zanardi
(1966-10-23) 23 October 1966 (age 50)
Bologna, Italy
Debut season 2005
World Touring Car Championship
Teams BMW Team Italy-Spain
Car no. 9
Starts 105
Wins 4
Poles 1
Fastest laps 4
Best finish 10th in 2005
Previous series
1992, 2005–06
2003–04
1996–98, 2001

1991–94, 99
1989 & 91
1988–90
Italian Superturismo
ETCC
CART FedEx Championship Series
Formula One
F3000 International
Italian F3
Championship titles
2005
1997–98
1990
Italian Superturismo
CART FedEx Championship Series
European F3 Cup
Formula One World Championship career
Active years 19911994, 1999
Teams Jordan, Minardi, Lotus, Williams
Entries 44 (41 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 0
Career points 1
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First entry 1991 Spanish Grand Prix
Last entry 1999 Japanese Grand Prix

Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈaːleks dzaˈnardi]; born 23 October 1966) is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist.

He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998 in North America. He also had a less successful career as a Formula One driver. More recently, he has attracted widespread praise for his return to competition in the aftermath of a crash in 2001 that resulted in the amputation of his legs. He returned to racing less than two years after the accident, competing in the FIA World Touring Car Championship for BMW Team Italy-Spain between 2003 and 2009.

Switching sports, Zanardi took up competition in handcycling, a form of paralympic cycling, with the stated goal of representing Italy at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. In September 2011, Zanardi won his first senior international handcycling medal, the silver medal in the H4 category time trial at the UCI World Road Para-Cycling Championships. In September 2012 he won gold medals at the London Paralympics in the individual H4 time trial and the individual H4 road race, followed by a silver medal in the mixed H1-4 team relay, and in September 2016 he won a gold and a silver medal at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Alex Zanardi was born in Bologna, Italy, son of Dino and Anna Zanardi. His family moved to the town of Castel Maggiore on the city's outskirts when he was four. His sister Cristina was a promising swimmer prior her death in an automobile collision in 1979.

Zanardi began racing karts at age 13. He built his kart from the wheels of a dustbin and pipes from his father's work. In 1988, he joined the Italian Formula 3 series, with a fifth place as his highest finish. In 1989, Zanardi took two pole positions and three podiums despite his team's switching to unleaded fuel, which reduced his car's engine power. In 1991, he moved up to the Formula 3000 series with the Il Barone Rampante team, themselves newcomers to the series. He won his F3000 debut race, scoring two more wins that season and finishing second in the championship.


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