It’s full speed ahead for CART champ Zanardi

Alex Zanardi

Alex Zanardi returns to Indianapolis this week to celebrate the shining moments of his racing career.

While the two-time CART champion never got to compete in the Indianapolis 500 because of the open-wheel split, he said he harbored no ill will or regrets.
“My attitude is to always enjoy what I have and try to evaluate what I have in my hands rather than what either was slapped away or I never got my grip on," he said in a phone interview earlier this week. “Of course, it would have been fantastic to race at Indy, but I got my chance to get around (the track).

“I paid my dollar and rode the (tour) bus in 1996."

Zanardi, CART’s champion in 1997 and ’98, has never been one to dwell on his mirrors, part of the reason he won 15 races in a three-year span that earned him a ride with one of the better Formula One teams of the time (Williams). It’s also the reason he didn’t quit living his life in the aftermath of the 2001 accident that by all accounts should have killed him.

Zanardi lost both legs in the Champ Car accident at EuroSpeedway in Lausitz, Germany. But he still has an outlet for his competitive instincts. He finished fourth in the handcycle class of the Nov. 4 New York City Marathon.

Zanardi has used the three-wheeled bike to raise awareness and financial support for children who need prosthetic limbs, making him a hero in Italy, his native country.

Zanardi’s new charity, Bimbi in Gamba, which in Italian means “Kids on Legs," has already raised more than $150,000. The program is working so efficiently that it has more resources than requests. More at Indy Star