The accident in which Zanardi lost his legs took place on September 15, 2001 during a CART class race at Lausitzring, Germany. The Italian driver spun out leaving the pit lane, after completing 143 of the 154-lap race, and was broadsided by a car driven by Canadian Alex Tagliani, who was traveling at over 320 kph. Aside from losing his legs, Zanardi also fractured his pelvis. Zanardi's recovery has been nothing less than amazing and he now only uses a cane as support for his artificial legs, giving the impression that he just has a slight limp. The car Zanardi will be testing is a modified version of the one BMW Sauber raced this past season. It has a special brake pedal and the throttle has been moved to the shifting paddle on the left side of the steering wheel.

Zanardi returned to competitive racing two years after losing his legs as a third driver for BMW in the last event of the 2003 European Tourist Car Championship (ETCC) at Monza. The following year he was the official driver for the Team BMW Italy-Spain in the ETCC and has continued to race the BMW320i since then. Last year Zanardi won the prestigious Laureus World Comeback Award. He qualified for the comeback category of the sports 'Oscar', as opposed to the one for sports persons with disabilities, because he completed a full ETCC 2004. In 2004, then-President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi awarded Zanardi the Republic's Knight Cross of Merit in recognition of his "strength of spirit".

Zanardi, Ciampi said at the awards ceremony, "gave us all such an exceptional example of strength of spirit by the way he dealt with the loss of his legs after a terrifying accident. It was very moving to see him back on the track". When he is not working with cars, Zanardi dedicates himself to what he considers his second full-time job: 'test driving' and developing new artificial limbs and devices for the disabled. These have included artificial legs equipped with revolutionary electronic knees, which use a microchip capable of reading stress and opening and closing hydraulic valves accordingly.

Champ Cars

Tracy Breaks Shoulder Blade, May Miss Mexico Race
Paul Tracy may have to miss the final Champ Car race of the season next weekend after breaking his right scapula in a non-racing incident. The Canadian, who currently lies fifth in the championship table, said the incident occurred last Saturday night. Tracy told autosport.com: "Sorry to say it was self-inflicted. I was at a party and had had a little too much to drink, and we thought it was a good idea to go out on a golf-cart and try and jump sand-dunes with it. We were wrong. It wasn't a good idea. Jumped a sand-trap and ended up with the cart on top of me. Like I say, it sounded like a good idea at the time, but it didn't pan out that way."

Since then, the Forsythe Championship Racing driver has tried to recuperate, but he believes he overdid his exercise over the past seven days. "We were making good progress Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, but I was at physiotherapy on Thursday and I started working it too hard and it's gone back about ten steps now. I can't move it right now, it can't take any weight. I've got a doctor coming over later on today [Saturday] and I've been talking to Terry Trammell [Champ Car and Indycar doctor] and work out what our game plan is. I've gotta get it to where I can at least start Mexico, get the starting points. I got my full range of motion back before Thursday, so if I can get back to that state again, then we should be okay. But at the moment, the muscles around the scapula have just kinda gone into lock-down to protect it." (autosport.com)