Alex Zanardi’s top 10 moments

A common theme of tributes to Alex Zanardi that poured in following the sad news of his passing on Saturday was admiration for a man who personified fighting spirit. 

His swashbuckling driving style that yielded consecutive Indycar titles for Chip Ganassi Racing in 1997-98 attracted legions of fans and their number only grew following the life-altering accident at the Lausitzring in 2001 which robbed him of his legs - but not his good humour. His return to racing using prosthetics with BMW, alongside becoming a multiple gold medal-winning Paralympian, gave Zanardi a new status as a disability champion who inspired countless many.

For this list, we’ve deviated slightly from the greatest drives format – although plenty of these are worthy of discussion. It seems appropriate, given some of his triumphs were elevated by the adversities he overcame, to rank his greatest on four wheels.

10. Fighting through the pain barrier, 1993 Brazilian GP (Interlagos)

Zanardi's time in F1 was unfulfilled promise, but points on his second start for Lotus was a race to savour

Photo by: Ercole Colombo / Studio Colombo / Getty Images

Zanardi’s Formula 1 stint was a period of unfulfilled promise, but finishing sixth in just his second race for Lotus hinted at a bright future. And pushing through the pain barrier to record what would stand as his best result at Interlagos, after his neck was struck by a stone, showed all the bravery that would become a Zanardi trademark.

Overlooked for a 1992 race seat after three outings for Jordan in 1991, his limited mileage as Benetton’s tester meant he was a tad rusty when called up by Minardi as a mid-season replacement for an injured Christian Fittipaldi. So, upon joining Lotus for 1993, Zanardi began the year eager to make up for lost time.

Clashing with Damon Hill’s Williams at Kyalami showed ambition, if not judgement, but Interlagos showed he could keep a cool head. Starting 15th didn’t hint at impending heroics, but Zanardi made up places as others – including leader Alain Prost – were caught out in a shower. Heroically, he drove one-handed for the last 20 laps to break his points duck.

Further points should have arrived at Barcelona – losing sixth to a late engine failure – and at Imola where he clashed with JJ Lehto disputing fourth. By the time he returned from a hefty shunt at Spa, Lotus was no longer a competitive force and Zanardi’s F1 days were numbered.  

9. F3000 clean sweep, 1991 Mugello 

Utterly dominant at Mugello, Zanardi showcased his talents

Zanardi arrived in F1 following a stellar maiden season in International Formula 3000, which had significant long-term implications. A Reynard was the car to have, as Lola floundered, and in Il Barone Rampante Zanardi found an environment where he was a focal point. Results were immediate and spectacular: the Italian Formula 3 graduate overtook team-mate Antonio Tamburini to win the Vallelunga curtain-raiser, then annexed pole at Pau by eight tenths, though driveshaft failure cost him a likely victory. 

Another three DNFs (two of which caused by car problems while leading) meant that, although Zanardi never finished lower than second all season, Christian Fittipaldi’s superior consistency secured the crown. But when the going was good, Zanardi was unstoppable, and the clearest manifestation of that was at Mugello. 

Pole position by 0.7s, fastest in the warmup by a full second, fastest lap and an untroubled race win had the rest gasping in his wake. Behind an inspired Marco Apicella’s Lola, Pacific racer Fittipaldi, third in the next best Reynard, trailed 20.65 behind. It was the clearest demonstration yet that Zanardi was destined for greatness. 

8. A decisive oval win, 1997 US 500 (Michigan)

The Italian proved he could win on any circuit type with a maiden oval triumph

Photo by: Pascal Rondeau / Getty Images

Zanardi had been close to winning on ovals several times before breaking through at Michigan. On pole for only his second Indycar race at Rio in 1996, he surged back to fourth after a bad strategy call. Engine failure having led 134 laps in Michigan’s US 500 was a bitter blow, then he crashed while leading in the year’s second Michigan thrash. A fumbled wheelnut in Miami’s 1997 opener cost him a chance of taking on Michael Andretti, so few begrudged him a hard-earned win over 500 car-breaking miles on a hot, humid July day.

He was in danger of being lapped after being penalised for driving over Chip Ganassi Racing team-mate Jimmy Vasser’s air hose in the pits, and struggling with the balance until a timely caution gave a reprieve. Further set-up tweaks – “I found a way of playing with the tools in the cockpit,” he explained – transformed his fortunes. 

It helped that Reynard contenders Andre Ribeiro and Dario Franchitti suffered transmission woes caused by excessive heat build-up, while engine failure waylaid Patrick Carpentier. But Zanardi delivered by looking after his equipment and remaining alert in traffic. That was easier said than done – pursuers Bobby Rahal and Scott Pruett came unstuck in near-identical fashion. By the end, all but Mark Blundell were lapped.

Zanardi only won once more on an oval, a strategic race at Gateway in 1998 where solid pitwork saw him leapfrog Andretti at the final stop. But the Michigan victory was the more significant, as proof he could win on any circuit type. 

7. Never discount Zanardi, 1998 Long Beach Grand Prix

His Long Beach win in 1998 was Zanardi at the peak of his powers

He only led the last two of 105 laps, but the charging victory that opened his account for 1998 at Long Beach was Zanardi at his best. Recovering from a lap down, after stalling when embroiled in a track blockage at the hairpin, Zanardi was relentless in his recovery despite his left-front steering arm being misaligned – courtesy of Pruett inadvertently driving over it during the melee. Downing tools was never part of Zanardi’s repertoire. 

“I just went for every car that was in my way,” he remarked. That included leader Gil de Ferran’s Walker Reynard. Passing him to regain the lead lap was crucial and set Zanardi up to challenge once transmission woes sidelined the luckless Brazilian. 

Armed with a fresh set of Firestones and fuelled to the end at his final stop with 34 laps to go, Zanardi was up to third by the time leading duo Bryan Herta and Franchitti had completed their late splash-and-dashes. Fresher rubber certainly helped Zanardi’s case, but passing the pair required expert judgement to pull off the win on the narrow Californian streets. By now at the peak of his powers in CART, Zanardi made no mistake and so kicked off what would turn into a successful defense of his 1997 title.

6. Converting a landmark position, 2008 Brno WTCC

Pole and victory in Brno cemented Zanardi's comeback success

Although he had already ascended the top step of the podium since his post-accident return to racing BMW, there was a real sense of significance to Zanardi’s victory in the ninth round of the 2008 World Touring Car Championship. 

Like his triumph in Istanbul two years prior, it came in the first event of the weekend where the grid was set by qualifying order, rather than a reversed grid. But unlike that event, where his ROAL-run machine started second, this time it was from pole. 

His first since 1997, in Vancouver, he’d made good on the rear-wheel-drive BMW 320si’s natural suitability to the sprawling Czech circuit and its absence of success ballast to beat Alain Menu’s RML Chevrolet Lacetti by 0.126s. The ensuing victory, passing team-mate Felix Porteiro after making a sluggish start, was the icing on the cake. 

Zanardi said his qualifying showing “completes the circle of what I was trying to achieve when I came back” and pointed out that while “a win can be the result of many things, to be fastest on a single lap has a completely different taste”. His €2,000 fine for performing doughnuts after the flag? Money well spent. 

Only Gabriele Tarquini’s stubborn defence aboard a ballast-laden SEAT Leon denied a double victory in race two after he’d charged from eighth. Zanardi’s affinity with Brno’s fast sweeps yielded another win in 2009, his last in the WTCC, after profiting from a first corner melee.

5. Breaking his US duck, 1996 G.I. Joe’s 200 (Portand)

A breakthrough CART victory in his rookie season was a statement after a bruising first stint in F1

Photo by: Jamie Squire / Getty Images

Zanardi was down on his luck after Lotus collapsed in 1994, but Reynard’s powers-at-be kept faith after his 1991 F3000 performances and recommended him to Chip Ganassi, seeking a Herta replacement. The rest was history.

Zanardi was electrifying in 1996 and the only surprise is that it took until round nine for the floodgates to open. Pole at Portland was the prelude to a near-perfect run in which he led all but three laps, then compared his Honda engine to a Stradivarius violin (never say racing drivers aren’t cultured). 

Able to comfortably hold Vasser while using less fuel, a mid-race shower in which his team-mate spun off temporarily swung the balance in favour of Penske’s Al Unser Jr (on wet Goodyears), who carved into Zanardi’s lead and quickly passed. But in a sign of his confidence, Zanardi allowed the race to come back to him as the rain eased and conditions again favoured his Firestone slicks. Unser’s lead lasted but two laps. 

A caution evaporated his cushion, but Zanardi made no mistake thereafter to hold off de Ferran’s Hall Racing Reynard and deliver a confidence-boosting win. Having scored just 17 points prior to Portland, he notched a further 115 by season’s end. Had the championship started at the halfway point, he would have won it comfortably. 

4. First post-injury win, 2005 Oschersleben WTCC

Zanardi's most poignant win of his career was his first post-injury

Photo by: Sutton Images via Getty Images

It mattered little that this was a reversed grid victory to those watching Zanardi perform his customary celebration doughnuts at Oschersleben in 2005. Four years on from the trauma of Lausitzring, amid the numerous daily triumphs needed to navigate his new circumstances, it was enough that the Italian was once again a winner on the track. “Something magic happened for me today,” he remarked.

Zanardi’s exploratory return to racing, in a European Touring Car Championship bout at Monza in 2003, spawned a full season for 2004. Progress was steady – unsurprisingly given his hand-control technology was still in its infancy – but come 2005 and the ETCC gaining world status, Zanardi was becoming a contender.

Imola was a warning shot. Aided by opening lap mayhem in the opener, he’d grabbed the reversed grid pole and been set for third (after falling behind BMW stablemates Dirk Muller and Andy Priaulx) until Alfa driver Augusto Farfus misjudged a final lap move which dropped him to sixth. But there was to be no repeat at the tight and technical Oschersleben, where Zanardi reckoned a new mechanical throttle system “allowed me to raise my level”.

Showing he’d lost none of his wheel-to-wheel nous, a combative drive to eighth in race one earned the all-important pole, then Zanardi remained resolute against fellow BMW ace Jorg Muller. The qualifying pace-setter, fighting back from a grid penalty, had no answer to unlock Zanardi’s defence. A more popular win would have been hard to fathom.

3. Statement win at maximum attack, 1997 Grand Prix of Cleveland 

The Italian picked the 1997 GP of Cleveland as the race of his life for Autosport back in 2009

Photo by: David Taylor / Allsport

Zanardi’s selection as the race of his life for Autosport in 2009 came at a crucial time. Having scored just two points in the previous three races – off the boil at Milwaukee, a clip from Franchitti at Detroit’s first corner put him into the wall, then he was caught out in the mixed conditions at Portland - his title challenge was in danger of fading away. But a statement recovery to win at Cleveland arrested the slump and turned the tide.

As with Long Beach in 1998, there was adversity in spades – this time mostly self-inflicted. Having missed that the pits were closed and come in under caution, for which the early race leader was moved to the back of the pack as penance, Zanardi was served a second penalty (this time a drive-through) for crossing the blend line as he rejoined. This served, he appeared down and out in 22nd, though did possess an ace card – Ganassi had called him back in under the caution (legally this time) to top off with fuel and therefore he could make the flag on one more stop without conserving. 

No more yellows followed, and Zanardi certainly made the most of his fuel advantage. Christian Fittipaldi, whose podium-contending drive was thwarted by a failed air jack, was credited with the second-fastest lap but Zanardi managed a full 16 that were quicker… 

Once he’d dispatched Herta for second, he caught de Ferran at a second per lap before slicing through with five tours remaining. The doughnuts that followed were well-earned…

2. Herta ambush achieves immortality, 1996 Grand Prix of Monterey (Laguna Seca)

Zanardi's move on Herta at the corkscrew remains legendary

Photo by: Jamie Squire / Getty Images

That it has become known simply as ‘The Pass’ tells you everything you need to know about why Zanardi’s victory at Laguna Seca in 1996 entered IndyCar folklore.

Entering the title-decider, attention was naturally focused on the Vasser versus Andretti versus Unser championship fight, decided in Vasser’s favour with a conservative run to fourth. But Zanardi ensured the race would be remembered for other reasons as his pursuit of leader Herta’s Rahal Reynard culminated in a jaw-dropping last lap move at the Corkscrew. 

Never usually regarded as a passing place, Zanardi opted for the element of surprise and jinked to Herta’s inside as the American took the normal racing line, Herta spotting him just in time. Momentum dragged Zanardi wide, onto the dirt, but he gathered it up on the exit and rejoined ahead of a crestfallen Herta – who had been set for a maiden win after executing a decisive pass on poleman Zanardi into Turn 2 at mid-distance. 

Zanardi conceded afterwards that the move was a risky one, but it paid off handsomely. The emphasis placed on track limits today would likely result in a penalty, but nobody could argue that it was opportunistic racing at its best. 

1. The missing laps, 2003 Lausitzring

Zanadri completed the final 13 laps from his fateful day at the Lausitzring two years later

Photo by: Martin Rose / Bongarts / Getty Images

It is a testament to Zanardi’s strength of character that he considered the 13 laps he didn’t complete at the Lausitzring, on that terrible day in 2001, as unfinished business. More so that he actively did something about it. 

Zanardi took up the idea of doing a demo run at the German oval with series boss Chris Pook on his return to the paddock at Toronto in 2002 and worked together with team bosses Eric Bachelart and Derrick Walker to make it happen. Driving a specially-adapted Reynard, decked in the same Mo Nunn Racing livery he’d campaigned in 2001, Zanardi lapped at an average speed of almost 195mph as though he’d never been away. And with his typical humour, he remarked that he’d driven “flat out, wide open. I can’t say pedal-to-the-metal, because I didn’t have a pedal. I just had a little knob…”

He admitted to feeling disappointed when it was over, but was satisfied that he’d proven a point; the loss of both legs would not stop him from living and achieving his goals. That rather sums Alex Zanardi up.

Zanardi will be deeply missed by all in motorsport and the wider sporting world

Photo by: Martin Rose / Bongarts / Getty Images