Alex Zanardi – 1966-2026

The motorsports world was shocked at the passing of Alex Zanardi ton May 1, 2026 at age 59. It was a loss that resonates deeper than his resume would yield. 

Bor Alessandro Leone Zanardi, the Italian motorsports and Paralympic athlete made his name in IndyCar. Yet, he had a few stints with Formula One in the early 1990s bouncing from Jordan to Minardi, and Lotus. When he arrived at IndyCar/CART in 1996, he made his presence known. The next year, he won the driver’s championship in Chip Ganassi’s car. He had himself a year, with four pole positions and five wins. 

In 1998, he returned as Driver’s Champion. With a pole position, Zanardi won seven times during that season. Afterwards, he jumped around after his two championship years at CART. One stop at Formula One, then to Touring Car, and back to CART. 

In 2001, CART made a stop at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in northeastern Germany. Zanardi was not having a good season going into the race. After a late pit stop, Zanardi lost control of his car coming out of the exit. He ended up on the track itself, causing a multiple car crash with Alex Tagliani eventually crashing into Zanardi. 

The result of that crash was two broken legs. Zanardi had to undergo surgery to remove both of his legs. In the end, the doctors saved his life, but they had to amputate above the knee eventually. 

Zanardi never lost the fight to compete. He rehabilitated to the point where he was ready to race again. Before he was able to, Zanardi helped design adaptive driving equipment that were more suited for competition. In 2003, he drove his car back onto the Lausitzring to complete the laps lost using the new adaptive equipment. 

Afterwards, Zanardi went back into racing. That enabled him to continue in several touring car series in Europe. He was given a try in Formula One again, where the adaptive equipment did not work to his liking. Zanardi returned to the USA in 2019 to rac in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona for BMW M6 GTE in the GTLM class using improved adaptive driving equipment. He finished ninth in class and 32nd overall. 

His fight to compete continued beyond the realm of motorsports. Zanardi took up handcycling and triathlon when he was not competing on the track. At The Paralympic games of 2012 in London, he won a gold medal for men’s road time trail H4, along with a silver for Italy in the mixed team relay H1-4. He would be named the best male athlete of those games. 

In 2020, Zanardi suffered a setback after an accident in his handcycle in an exhibition race in Italy. He suffered head injuries and there was a fear he would not recover properly. Eighteen months later, he regained sight, hearing and speech as he improved towards release to rehabilitation at home. He was hospitalized again in 2022 after a fire broke out at his home in Italy.

As of the time of publication, it is unknown what was the cause of death to Zanardi. 

If you think about what he has gone through, you have to think about Zanardi’s legacy. There, you would combine not only his exploits in CART during the late 1990s, but the impact he created with developing new adaptive driving equipment made for motorsports competition. 

The latter provided opportunities for drivers after Zanardi to utilize this equipment in their endeavors. I can think of Robert Wickens, who has been a leading driver in IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge, winning the TCR class championship in 2023. 

No discussion of Zanardi is complete without a discussion on Clay Regazzoni. After his crash in Formula One during the 1980 race at Long Beach, Regazzoni was the first disabled driver to compete in motorsports running the Dakar Rally and in IMSA. If it weren’t for Regazzoni, Zanardi would have not helped move the development of adaptive driving equipment in motorsports. 

This is why Zanardi was considered a “a hero of the highest caliber” and a “21st century hero.” A motorsports and Paralympian athlete who moved the bar for those of us who are ably challenged to do more than just exist. 

With that, we thank you Alex. 

All photos courtesy of BMW Group USA