Q&A: Alex Zanardi - Pt.2.

by Rob Wilkins

Alex Zanardi made his name in Indy Cars, winning the championship back-to-back in 1997 and 1998. He was a well-respected and admired racing driver, and still is, despite that accident in Germany back in 2001.

Here in the second and final part of Crash.net's interview with Alex, he talks about his second shot at F1, the accident and life today. Alex never gave up. It wasn't even an option - something that comes across all too clearly in his autobiography, Alex Zanardi - My Story.

Q:
Alex. At the end of 1999, you went back to F1 for a second shot. Why did you make that decision?

Alex Zanardi:
Well, I thought it was a good decision, and I thought I had everything it takes to be successful. Of course, if I had a crystal ball, maybe I would have made a different call.

But, having said all that, the main mistake there was not choosing Williams, it was to choose that solution at that time, at that particular time of my life. I should have known that that situation was not suiting my needs at that particular point of my career.

Had I had that opportunity in 1996, I think it would have been a completely different story, because I was a different person. I was a much less experienced driver, but I was a much hungrier driver. In 1999, I think I was, technically speaking, a good driver, capable of taking a car to win, even in Formula One, but the Williams was not that type of car. Mentally, maybe I did not have the energy to help the team to build that type of car and, for sure, I didn't have the energy to fight other people's decisions when I thought these decisions were wrong.

To cut the story short, I under evaluated the situation a little bit but, if everything in life was done right, it would be very boring. I believe the perfect life is the right combination between great things, great success and stupid mistakes or failures.

Q:
After a year off, it was back to CART in 2001 - and then you had the big one, didn't you? Bigger even than your crash in the Lotus in 1993.

AZ:
Yeah, 2001. It happened that, once again, I made a mistake because I was a little too romantic, and decided to follow my heart and sign with Mo Nunn Racing. I love Morris Nunn as a friend, and I believe he is currently running a very good team, but. at the time, the team was not yet on the level, especially on my side, because it had just run one car in the previous year. At the time, they had simply just not clicked.

I did what I could - in fact, I probably did much more than I did with Williams two years before - and things were slowly changing for the better. In fact, in that race, when I had my accident, I was actually leading, and would probably have ended up winning the race.

As we know, it didn't go that way. I had a bad accident. But, in a way, it is like if you go out from here and get struck by thunder - can you blame yourself for having gone out? No, not really. You just say 'bloody hell!'. I was unlucky that it was me.

The good thing is if you find... I wouldn't call it the strength, because a lot of people talk about my strength and my incredible character, but I think I was lucky enough to be born with a very optimistic character, a very positive character. I immediately had the wish to give myself, in the best possible way, the best out of what I had left. It's as simple as that, and I think, out of what I have left, I have already done something, making my life really great. It is nothing different to what it used to be before - my life is exactly as it used to be to many a degree.

Q:
How difficult was your road to recovery?

AZ:
It has been very difficult because, at the beginning of my rehabilitation, there were many things that I couldn't do by myself, and I had to be helped. That was a little frustrating.

Nevertheless, though I knew that I had to go through that, it was difficult to go through all the pain, to go through all the surgery in the beginning, to go through the construction of my prosthetic legs - which, in the beginning, were done well but not very well. I was experiencing a lot of pain just to keep them on.

There were times when I thought that I would never get to the point where I would put my legs on in the morning, and take them off in the night - when I needed, not when they needed.

In fact, I have gained that independency, I have gained that resolve, my life now is back as it used to be. Today, I am racing in the European Touring Car Championship, but the real important thing is not so much that I am racing, but is that I can race. That it is my choice. It wasn't destiny's choice that took my legs off, therefore I can't race any more. Destiny took my legs off, but the important thing is that, despite the fact I lost my legs, I can make this kind of decision.

I went to Dubai at the beginning of last week, on my own, for the latest round of the ETCC, and I drove my car to the airport, parked my car, jumped on the airplane, changed plane in Frankfurt, flew to Dubai, arrived there, cleared customs - all on my own. I went to my hotel, checked in, changed my shirt, went back down to have a drink with my guys from the team, and then went back, stayed there for a few days, drove the best race of my year, came back, went home for an afternoon, jumped back on another plane to come here and now here I am talking to you.

This is what I have achieved in these two years of rehabilitation, and three years after the accident. I'm glad I was able to do all this. I know, in my situation, most people do not get to this point. But, believe me, I am not any sort of 'superman', you know? I have seen other people doing the same, and it is the real hope. This was in my deck of cards, but it is in a lot of people's decks too. It is just a question of dealing out the right cards and wanting to do so.

Q:
The ETCC becomes the World Touring Car Championship in 2005, are you looking forward to that?

AZ:
Well, to me, it does not really make a lot of difference. I am experiencing something that I am really enjoying. I am driving for a team which is based three kilometres from my house, and with people I consider to be friends. That is what is making it very special.

On top of that, I am very proud to represent a prestigious brand like BMW, and that helps a lot. If I win the championship, I would be proud of the achievement, but it wouldn't make me any more proud than to be able to say I am world champion, or European champion, because, in reality, I think, the toughest opponents are going to remain the same whether it is called European or World Championship.

The only addition is that we are going to have an extra two races, one in Mexico and one in Macau, and have some other races in place of some existing races. That is a good thing. But I hope, in 2006, that they are not going to add any more races because, for me, it is just right now. I don't want to be too busy! I hope they stay to this number of races, also because, from a cost point of view, it is best for the team.

Q:
You recently launched your own team in international karting - can you explain the reasons behind this move?

AZ:
It's not really a karting team. We do have a team but, in reality, we are a constructor. I am not saying we because I talk like the Pope, who always says we, I say we because I am putting the name to the venture - the chassis is called the Zanardi kart - but the man who is tightening all the bolts and doing all the work at home, running the thing, is a guy called Dino Chiesa, who is an old friend of mine and has been involved in karting for many years He made himself available for this thing and, after last year, we realised the Zanardi kart in conjunction with CRG. But, since CRG is a known brand in terms of producing chassis and they have their own line, they could not promote my kart very well - at least, they could not do it through their dealers without interfering with their own business.

So we found a guy that was making his chassis, and who was prepared to abandon his chassis to work on the Zanardi kart and look after it. I saw it as a great opportunity and, although we have just started, things are going well, there are already a lot of people interested in buying the Zanardi kart.

On top of that, we have a team where the driver is a British kid called Martin Plowman, who did really well in the world championship. He was a little unlucky because, in the final, he went up to sixth, twice setting the fastest lap of the race, but then he had a little accident and he finished 13th. He definitely helped us to show the product is more than competitive, though. I am enjoying it.

Q:
Do you see team management as a possible future for you when your driving days are over?

AZ:
I don't think so at a higher level than karting. I really enjoy that because politics tends to interfere, not just in Formula One, but even at lower levels. With karting, when politics is just about to come in, the driver normally moves to car racing and you get another kid coming in.

You can always play it the way you want and keep it down to a sort of 'play' level, although it is very expensive to race karts, and the people that are doing it are doing it in a very professional way. But, having said that, the air you are breathing is much fresher than in other form of racing.

Q:
At Crash.net, we have a lot of fans of MotoGP, WSBK and World Rally. Do you follow other areas of motorsport?

AZ:
Of course. I think, all the Italians, when ever they hear a bike race, they are like this [makes a transfixed/enthusiastic/bowled over face] - at least until Valentino Rossi is in the field. I have other friends, like Loris Capirossi, and I know Marco Melandri quite well, I know a lot of these guys because the doctor there, the creator of the mobile clinic that follows all the riders at all the races, is a great friend of mine. He was very close to me throughout my 'adventure'. So, though him, I got to know a lot of these incredible kids that are doing incredible things - and, of course, I watch that, even with more pleasure than Formula One.

Of course, when I can get an Indy Car or Champ Car race on television, I never miss the opportunity.

Rallying you don't get to watch so much on television, so that kind of makes the light of your interest fade away. If you pick up a magazine, you see names that are familiar, and then you learn, maybe, that Carlos Sainz had previously retired and come back, and other drivers that you were familiar with no longer race, but if you are not on it all the time, it is difficult to follow.

Q:
Of the current drivers in CART and F1, who do you rate and why?

AZ:
Well, of course, if I say Michael Schumacher, I am not saying anything new to you, so let's keep Michael Schumacher out of this question for once.

I believe Juan Montoya really has that extra bit that, frankly, a lot of others are missing. I think, mentally, he is very strong on one side, but he is very weak on the other because the way he looks at life is not in any way similar to how Michael Schumacher looks at it. His approach is totally different. He is much more laid down, arrives at the circuit and says 'what is the deal?' and recovers with his incredible talent, which to me, to a certain degree, is superior to that of Michael Schumacher.

But he is lacking in preparation, and I don't mean hours in the gym or things like that. I mean mentally, being focused on his goal. In a way, it is a pity, but you can't force somebody to be somebody else and that, I think, is why Montoya is enjoyable to watch. Because he is capable of sometimes doing silly things, but sometimes he is capable of doing things that are absolutely unbelievable - that other drivers would just not imagine can be done.

As for Champ Cars, it is very difficult to spot a guy there now. When I arrived in Champ Cars, which at the time used to be called Indy Cars and then got renamed CART and then renamed Champ Cars, I was racing against Jimmy Vasser, my team-mate, but more than him, I was racing against Michael Andretti, Emerson Fittapaldi, Al Unser Jr - guys that had big names. You win a race against these guys, you get a pat on the back. And you win another race against these guys and you get another pat on the back from everybody. The day you win a race against these guys and you just get a pat on the back from your team, and from others, it really means, from that point on, that everybody, all the outside observers are considering you at the height of these guys. This is what makes people become champions in the eyes of the crowd.

Sebastien Bourdais is certainly a very good driver, but the bottom line is, who is he winning against? Against Bruno Junqueira.

With all due respect, Bruno never had time to make himself a name against other people. The only two guys that are left that have some name are Jimmy Vasser and Paul Tracy. All the others are guys that have emerged into this new field, composed of guys that were totally unknown. So it is very difficult to say 'that guy is bloody good'.

When they are in Indy Car, with Tony Kanaan winning, he is winning against some drivers that have done some good things. Like Sam Hornish Jr, Tomas Scheckter, Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti, Helio Castroneves - drivers that have made themselves a name winning races against other drivers that are known.

So I think, at least, from a philosophical point of view, the championship that Tony has won is much more important than the one in Champ Car. You understand what I mean? That does not mean, technically, that it has been harder for Tony to win it in Indycar than maybe for Sebastien in Champ Car, if he wins it. Maybe, it is even more difficult on the other side, but you don't get to know that.

Q:
Finally, what does the future hold for Alex Zanardi?

AZ:
This and that! Nothing special. I don't know. Until a year ago, I didn't know I was going to get involved with saloon car racing, and then I had this opportunity, I was offered the ride, I tested the car and I saw I could do it - and decided to do it.

As a race car driver, I don't think I will drive for ever, because it is not so much a question of being competitive, but of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. If you think there is a possibility that you can be competitive, it is still enjoyable to push and try and to see if you can improve and, eventually, go on and win a race. If you don't see any hope, then it is not very enjoyable. So, if I get to the point where I can't improve anymore and I am still behind, then I would probably stop for sure.

There are a lot of other projects, like the karting thing, like the fact I would like to set-up my own manufacturing firm to develop mechanisms and equipment for handicapped people, because what I have right now on my legs is good, but I think, more than anything, it can be done, at a cheaper price. This is not a mission, but I believe I could still do an honest job, and make a small profit and give a great service to some of our community. Maybe that is something I will do in the future, taking the knowledge that I have in terms of materials and mechanisms that I have picked up in my racing career.

Alex Zanardi - My Story is available in all good book stores now, priced ?18.99. Look out for some excerpts coming soon on Crash.net over the next few weeks. The perfect way to get a taste of what is surely one of the 'must have' Christmas presents for any racing fan. Alex's autobiography will also be available in the Crash.net shop, in the book section, from Wednesday October 20th.