Zanardi to drive BMW F1 car
Former Lotus and Williams driver Alex Zanardi is set to return to
the cockpit of a Formula 1 car next month for the first time since
losing both legs in a traumatic Champ Car accident in 2001.
German magazine Auto Motor und Sport reports that Zanardi will
drive a 2006-spec BW Sauber at the BMW World Finals event in
Valencia on November 26.
Like the BMW 320i that he races in the World Touring Car
Championship, the F1 car will be specially adapted with a larger
brake pedal for his prosthetic legs and a hand-operated
throttle.
The Italians courage and cheerful stoicism in coping with his
injuries has inspired and awed the worldwide motor racing
community.
In 2003 he stepped back into a Champ Car at the Lausitzring oval
which was the scene of his near-fatal crash two years earlier to
complete the 13 laps that remained at the time of the
accident.
He has also been a regular competitor in the WTCC for the past two
seasons, winning the recent Turkish round at Istanbul Park.