Zanardi Out of Induced Coma

Former Grand Prix driver Alex Zanardi is out of his induced coma as he continues to make progress after his terrible crash in a Champ Car race last weekend.

Zanardi had both legs amputated after the crash in the first European round of the US-based series at the Lausitzring in Germany. Italian Zanardi was hit by rival Alex Tagliani's car and needed to be airlifted to a Berlin hospital after the Saturday race.

Zanardi was put into a coma by doctors to help the trauma of losing both legs, but he was awakened on Tuesday and underwent a third operation on Wednesday.

Tagliani, who suffered just bruising in the 320km/h crash, is struggling to deal with the shock of the incident as he prepares to race again at the next round this weekend at the Rockingham Speedway in Britain.

"There is not five minutes I don't think about Alex," said Tagliani. "I'm trying to get it out of my head and go on track. I don't really want to think about my problems. I would be happy if Alex takes this challenge as he has with his motor racing. I would like to see him in the paddock in the next few months."

Tagliani also said he believed the accident would have been "a lot worse" had it happened in Formula One.

"The cars are very safe and had we been in Formula One cars the incident would have been a lot worse and would have taken us both out," he added. "I heard that if we had F1 cars it would not have been the same, and it would have been a lot worse."

Zanardi's Mo Nunn team have withdrawn the driver's place in the field for Saturday's race at Rockingham and have sent his engineers and mechanics home.