Zanardi aims for points on comeback

The Italian, who lost both his legs in a crash during the EuroSpeedway Lausitz CART race in 2001, qualified 11th for his racing comeback at Monza yesterday. He has set a target of finishing eighth in today's opening race.

"I am partially happy," he said. "On my last lap I missed a gear a couple of times at reasonably high speed out of the Ascari chicane. This definitely cost me a couple of tenths, which could have placed me a little better on the grid. I did the lap time on my own, not in a slipstream, which helps here. These are really the things that come with experience and the feeling for the car."

Zanardi's weekend got off to a bad start when he was forced to miss the opening practice session due to a problem with his steering wheel-mounted clutch.

"We missed the first session, which did not help at all," he said. "From the one free practice we did and qualifying we were able to make an improvement, which was probably mainly on my side with my driving.

"For me it is more a question of getting on the rhythm, and making a clean lap without any mistakes with the gears or spinning off. I am happy I kept it out of trouble in a day where other people with more experience did not. I hope I can drive a clean race and bring it home in the first round in eighth, which is my goal."