Alex Zanardi never lost the ability to drive a race car.
Zanardi, who lost both legs in a crash five years ago, completed his return to Formula One on Saturday by becoming the first double amputee to test drive an F1 car.
The 40-year-old Italian drove 14 laps in a modified BMW-Sauber C24-B car at the Cheste circuit.
PHOTO: AP
"Alex felt comfortable from the word go, which has also been proved by his lap times," said BMW Motorsports director Mario Theissen, who was the first to embrace Zanardi after the historic spin. "It's obvious that he is no Formula One newcomer. He has not forgot how to drive a race car like this at the limit."
Zanardi lost his legs in a racing crash in September 2001 in the CART series, now known as the Champ Car World Series.
After being lifted out of the cockpit by two crew members, Zanardi could hardly contain his excitement.
"It's fantastic," he said. "When I dropped my visor, the emotions were very heavy. It was pure pleasure being back in a fantastic race car."
"I do understand this is about much more than just driving a race car. To put a guy with no legs in an F1 car is something very special," he said.
"Mentally I was the same driver as before, it was just to be seen technically whether I could connect my brain to the rest of the car. [Today] when I look in the mirror, I like what I see," he said.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS