Alex Zanardi has died aged 59, nearly six years after a road accident while racing his handbike left him with serious head injuries. [1]
Zanardi built a career that spanned motor racing and adaptive sport. He raced in Formula 1 in three partial seasons from 1991 to 1993 with Jordan, Minardi and Lotus, and later won 4 Paralympic gold medals and 12 world championships in handbike racing. [1]
His racing career had already been badly damaged by a severe concussion in a crash at Spa's Eau Rouge corner in 1993. Lotus then collapsed at the end of the 1994 season, leaving his Formula 1 career apparently over. [1]
Zanardi later survived a horrific accident at Germany's Lausitzring that cost him both legs, before he returned to competition in adaptive sport. He said of his life after that crash: "I am very lucky," and added, "I don't feel like I am living a second life. It is the same one." [1]
He also said his condition had opened new opportunities, saying: "This is not necessarily a bad thing, actually. I am very comfortable in this new life of mine where I have been able to do a lot of new things." [1]
His death was reported on Friday. [1]
