Alex Zanardi

“If I ever won the Indy 500, I can tell you that I wouldn't worry about my engine, that's for sure.”

“My parents taught me that I could always improve on things.”

“The first time the doctors put on my prosthetic legs they made me much taller than I'd ever been. I then remember the doctor saying 'we need to shorten this man' and we all were in hysterics.”

“The question I asked when I woke up was not how am I going to live without legs - but how am I going to do all the things I want to do without legs? There was no doubt that I was going to do them, I was just curious to find out how - but I knew I was going to find a way.”

“I lost my legs in a big crash and, of course, after that, there were times, not so much of darkness, but certainly times where it was very uncertain of what my future would hold.”

“Disabilities are a very relative condition, it is something that defines a situation, but if you can't jump over the problem then you can certainly go around it.”

“As you approach the finish line, you go through a tunnel of people, all of them cheering and encouraging you. Then I heard the speaker say, 'Alessandro Zanardi, you are an Ironman!' It was something phenomenal, something amazing... I got very emotional at that point.”

“I enjoy being in the middle of my journey much more than being close to the end.”

“You have to let the car do the job and try to trust it, try to understand what you are doing, try to be smooth, and try to be incredibly smart to set the car up, because that is the most important part.”

“Obviously, my wife is very important, very important because in all this time she never watched me with that look that means 'I am sorry,' or that means 'poor you.'”

“That's what I admire the most of my mom, that's she's so tough.”

“My heart stopped seven times and I had to be resuscitated seven times. It's incredible I'm still here so every day I feel happy to have a second chance but I'm sorry to say I didn't see any tunnel or any light at the end of it.”

“Obviously my feelings for Portland are quite special because that's where I obtained one of my greatest career satisfactions; like the first love, you never forget the first win!”

“You don't know how many times I fell just taking ridiculous small steps.”

“Whenever I have a drive or have a dream, I try to achieve it with what I have.”

“Today, I don't have any psychological scars, because I am a realist and an optimist. After all, I can't lose my legs twice.”

“Daytona has some of the greatest fans in the world and many remember me from some of the things I've done in this wonderful country.”

“I finally returned to Lausitzring in 2003. The idea was to drive the 13 laps that I had been unable to complete because of the crash. I drove out and it was as if I was in the car the day before the accident.”

“We all have expectations but sometimes the greatest thing is to be surprised with what happens and to find out that it is quite different from the way you imagined it.”

“I am out to prove that there are no obstacles for the disabled.”