Zanardi Returns to CART

Alex Zanardi will return to the CART series next year, the Mo Nunn racing team said on Wednesday.

The 34-year old Italian was Rookie of the Year in 1996 and CART series champion in 1997 and 1998. He drove for the Williams Formula One team in 1999. He sat out this season because Williams bought out the final year and replaced him with the young Briton, Jenson Button.

Zanardi had raced for the Lotus Formula One team before leaving Europe.

"The opportunity is so good that I cannot continue with my 'vacation,'" said Zanardi, who recorded 15 race wins and 10 poles in 51 CART starts from 1996-98. "I am looking forward to working with Morris again."

Nunn, formerly owner of the Ensign Formula One team, left Chip Ganassi Racing to start his own team this year.

"When we began this adventure, we intended to be a two-car race team all along," said Morris Nunn, who engineered Zanardi's 1997-98 titles and Juan Pablo Montoya's in 1999.

"Frankly, though, we really didn't expect to bring together a program of this caliber, with a competitor like Alex, quite this soon."