> BMW confirms Zanardi F1 test

BMW has confirmed that Alex Zanardi will return to the cockpit of a Formula 1 car next month for the first time since losing both legs in a traumatic Champ Car accident in 2001.

The 40-year-old Italian will drive a specially adapted BMW Sauber F1.06 at the Formula BMW World Final event in Valencia on November 24-26.

“I would like to say thank you to BMW for this opportunity,” he said.

“That’s just amazing for me.

“Of course, I know that I won’t get a contract with the Formula 1 team.

“However, having the chance to drive an F1 racer again is just incredible.

“Formula 1 is all about development speed.

“Therefore, I’m really excited to see what has changed since my last grand prix in 1999.

“I can call myself a very happy man, as I turned my passion into my profession.

“Despite having been a race driver for quite a while now, I still feel the fire burning in me.

“Formula 1 is – and will always be – the pinnacle of motor racing. I can hardly wait for the moment when the V8 engine is started.”

Zanardi’s courage and cheerful stoicism in coping with his injuries has inspired and awed the worldwide motor racing community.

In 2003 he stepped back into a Champ Car at the Lausitzring oval that was the scene of his near-fatal crash two years earlier to complete the 13 laps which remained at the time of the accident.

He has raced for BMW in the World Touring Car Championship for the past two seasons, winning the recent Turkish round at Istanbul Park.

“Alessandro Zanardi is a truly impressive character,” said BMW motorsport boss Mario Theissen.

“With an unprecedented show of will and dedication, he fought his way back into motor racing and now proves in the WTCC that he is able to win races at the highest level.

“It was rather a joke when he asked me at the beginning of the year if he could do an F1 test with us.

“We will give him this chance now; the engineers made it possible.

“I cannot wait to watch his reaction after the test.”

BMW has made substantial modifications to the F1.06 to adapt it for Zanardi.

The car features a special brake pedal, which has been moved to the right-hand side of the cockpit, and a hand-operated throttle using the paddle-shift mechanism on the left side of the steering wheel (with increased paddle travel to allow Zanardi to apply the throttle progressively and accelerate smoothly).