“The memories are vague of the accident. I remember coming out of the pitlane with cruise control, letting it go and then losing control of the car. I remember my hands frantically operating the steering wheel trying to recover control of the car, then this big, big noise and nothing more.”

Italian racing driver and para-cyclist

Alessandro Leone Zanardi is an Italian racing driver and para-cyclist. Born in 1966, he competed in Formula One from 1991 to 1999 and later raced in CART, the World Touring Car Championship, and at the Summer Paralympics. He is best known for his success in American open-wheel racing, where he won CART national championship titles in 1997 and 1998 with Chip Ganassi Racing. He later became a decorated para-cyclist, winning four Paralympic gold medals and 12 UCI Road World Championships.