E30 325i Rag-Top 2956 Report post Posted June 22, 2020 BMW Motorsport works driver Alessandro ‘Alex’ Zanardi was involved in a serious road accident in his home country of Italy on Friday, 19 June 2020. He is currently in stable condition at a Siena hospital, but is in a medically-induced coma due to the severe head injuries he incurred. Since the accident, BMW has been in close contact with Alessandro’s family. We are shocked by this news and deeply concerned. Zanardi is a two-time CART champion and former Formula One driver. In 2001, he was involved in a racing accident that resulted in the loss of both his legs. Despite his handicap, he exhibited superhuman determination to recover, designing his own prosthetics and learning to walk again. From 2003 to 2009, Zanardi raced modified BMW race cars and successfully competed in the FIA European Touring Car Championship (FIA ETCC) and the FIA World Touring Car Championship (FIA WTCC) with BMW Motorsport. After a break of four years he returned to racing in 2014 as a BMW works driver and competed in the Blancpain Sprint Series in a BMW Z4 GT3 that was modified to suit his needs. He then competed in the gruelling 24 hours of Spa endurance race in 2015, sharing the cockpit with non-handicapped drivers for the first time. Zanardi’s story is one of fearless human spirit, inspiring us all to reach higher and go further. The thoughts of the global BMW family are with him, his wife and his son during this time. 2 5 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
