Alex Zanardi - My Story: CART rivals.

Alex Zanardi took CART by storm in 1997 and 1998 winning the drivers' title back-to-back. The Italian though was soon the victim of some less than complimentary remarks, despite the fact that his results spoke for themselves.

While in London last month, promoting his autobiography, Alex Zanardi - My Story, Crash.net obtained permission to published some excerpts from his book, and what follows is the third and final extract that will be appearing on Crash.net. Here he talks about probably his most successful period to date behind the wheel... and why it was marred by jealousy.

Just a taste of what's in store in his autobiography...

"I was convinced that the negativity towards me had gone beyond the cockpits. I'm not playing the victim, but I really had to struggle against a very negative attitude. Winning in such an explosive way - and rising to the top so quickly like everyone had hoped - made the situation even more difficult.

"In the beginning, when things weren't going so well, everyone was happy. But, halfway through 1997, when I destroyed the competition and was within reach of the championship, the only thing that they could do was attack me. They tried to ruin my results by accusing me of racing improperly, taking enormous risks and basically being crazy.

"Some drivers still tried to fuel these rumours towards the end of 1998, which was the only time that I managed to control myself. I simply told them to read who was on top of the list of most completed laps and number of kilometres - I was completely ahead of everybody else. It was true that I took risks, but they were calculated risks and therefore I never made a mistake.

"Apart from Motegi, where I hit a wall, I finished 18 of the 19 races in 1998. I was on the podium 15 times, obliterating the existing record. 'Take that!' I said to the critics. I could handle the criticism because you need to be tough in motor racing. If you're overly enthusiastic, you can make a mistake and therefore you have to accept the consequences. But I couldn't stand the way that much of this criticism came from envy.

"I was glad that not everyone was like that; during a couple of briefings, I was defended by Jimmy Vasser, and even more so by Greg Moore. Greg became so fed up with these attacks that he finally said to the other drivers: 'You are all a real pain in the ass.' And to think that he was one of my main rivals...

"Anyway, after winning the championship at Laguna Seca, it seemed the criticism was over, but in reality the critics were just waiting to spark the fire again.."

Extract taken from Alex Zanardi - My Story courtesy of Haynes Publishing. Copyright: Alex Zanardi and Gianluca Gasparini 2004.

Alex Zanardi - My Story is available in all good book stores now, priced ?18.99. Alex's autobiography is also available in the Crash.net shop, in the book section.