Name: Alessandro Zanardi
Nicknames: Alex, Sandro, Mr. Donuts (Due to victory donuts in CART!) and Pineapple (Due to being like an 'annoying child' always asking for something, in USA these children are called pineapples, so he got called this for asking for things doing with his car in the USA!)
Birthdate: 23 october 1966
Birthplace: Bologna, Italy
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco & Bologna, Italy
Citizenship: Italian
Status: Married (to Daniela, October 1996)
Children: 1 Son (Niccolò, born September 7th 1998)
______________________________________________________CAREER
Karting 1980- 1987:
1984- Winner of the French, German and Hong Kong Grand Prix.
1985- Winner of the Italian Karting Championship.
1987- Winner of the European Karting Championship.
__________________________________________________________It
alian Formula 3 Championship:
1988- 15th, best result: 5th. Coperchini e Guareschi Team (Dallara388-Alfa Romeo).
1989- 7th, 2x 2nd places and 2x pole positions. Italy Team (Ralt RT33-Toyota).
1990- 2nd, 2x wins, 2x second and 2x third places. RC Motorsport Team (Dallara 390-Alfa Romeo) and Polesitter of the Monaco Formula 3 Grand Prix.
___________________________________________________________L
e Mans 1990:
1990- Winner of the European Championship 'Europe Cup'.
___________________________________________________________F
IA Formula 3000 Championship 1991:
1991- 2nd, 9 starts from the front row, 1 start from the third position, two wins and 4 second places in 10 races. Due to 3 mechanical failures lost the run to the title by five points. Barone Rampante Team (Reynard 91D-Mugen).
_______________________________________________________FIA Formua One World Championship 1991- 1994:
1991- Raced last 3 Grand Prix of the season, best result: 9th. (Jordan 191 Ford).
1992- Benetton F1 test driver,(development of the active suspension system) and 3 Grands Prix replacing injured Christian Fittipaldi. Minardi M192-Lamborghini.
1993- 20th, 11 races, best result: 6th. Terrible accident at Spa's Eau Rouge (active suspensions failure) caused abrupt end to racinf in F1 for 1993. Lotus 107B- Ford.
1994- 10 races, best result: 9th. Lotus 109- Mugen
___________________________________________________________B
itish Racing GT2 Class Production Championsip 1995:
1995- 1 win. Lotus Esprit.
___________________________________________________________C
ART/ Indy Cars Open Wheel racing 1996- 1998:
PPG Indycar World Series 1996:
1996- 3rd with 132 points. 3x wins, 6x pole positions, 8x front row starts in the last 8 races. Lead on 26 occasions with 610 laps led. Most points scored on road courses, 117 in 10 races. Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year Award winner. Into the racing history the memorable last lap pass over Bryan Herta at the Corkscrew in Laguna Seca. Target-Chip Ganassi Racing (Reynard-Honda).
__________________________________________________________PP
G CART World Series 1997:
1997- Championship Winner. 5x wins, 3x pole positions, Lead on 17 occasions with 338 laps led. Champ Cars record for consecutive pole positions (6) and consecutive front-row starts (11)which straddle from 1996 to 1997. Target-Chip Ganassi Racing (Reynard-Honda).
_________________________________________________________CAR
T FedEx Championship Series 1998:
1998- Championship Winner. 7x wins, 14x podiums (record for the Champ Cars). Target-Chip Ganassi Racing (Reynard-Honda).
_________________________________________________________FIA
Formula One World Championship 1999:
1999- 15 races, best result: 7th. Williams FW21-Supertec.
__________________________________________________________Ye
ar out: 2000
__________________________________________________________CA
RT FedEx Championship Series 2001:
2001- 23rd, best result: 4th. Mo Nunn Racing (Reynard-Honda). During the American Memorial on the Europeedway at Lausitziring (Germany) a terrible accident (losing control out of pit lane and uncontrolable spin into Alex Tagliani) caused loss of both the legs above the knee, which were smashed off and unsaveable. Numerous operations followed due to a slashed kidney, heart stopping 3 times and 3 pints of blood left in the body causing the heart to pump air.
__________________________________________________________Ka
rting 2002:
2002- Gradual return to the racing near the end of the year in two kart races, at first in October at Montecarlo then in December in his birthplace, Bologna, at Motorshow.
2002- Rehabilitation and fitting of prosthetic legs occured.
___________________________________________________________F
IA European Touring Cars Championship 2003- 2005:
2003- Return to the competitive racing at Monza for the last event, best result: 7th in the race 2. BMW Team Italy- Spain (BMW 320i).
2004- 14th, best result:6th BMW Team Italy- Spain(BMW 320i).
2005- 3rd. ROAL Motorsport(BMW 320i). Also, return to Lausutzrng to complete the last 13 laps left uncompleted in 2001 after the accident. Mo Nunn Racing (Reynard-Honda) hand- controlled car.
__________________________________________________________Ca
mpionato Italiano Superturismo 2005:
2005- Championship Winner. ROAL Motorsport (BMW 320i).
___________________________________________________________F
IA World Touring Cars Championship 2005- 2006:
2005- 10th, 1 win and 1 third place. BMW Team Italy-Spain (BMW 320i).
2006- Current championship (best result so far, 3rd)._______________________________________________________
__AWARDS:
1991- Winner of the prestigious "Casco d'Oro Tricolore" award from the Italian weekly 'Autosprint', as the best Italian driver of the year.
2005- Laureus Sports Award, World Comeback of the year award for bravery and amazing skills.Book/ Author- Alex Zanardi's USA version of his book, My Sweetest Victory won a Silver medal at the 2005 International Automotive Media Awards in the Autobiography category. The awards ceremony was hosted by the Madison Avenue Sports Car Driving & Chowder Society at Sardi's in New York on November 15, 2005. The IAMA awards are chosen from among some 400 automotive media entries across 11 different divisions.__________________________________________________
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