One of the stars of this year’s Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona is undoubtedly Alex Zanardi. He’s a two-time CART champ who lost both of his legs in a horrific 2001 accident. That hasn’t stopped him from racing—he’s done lots of sports-car and touring-car racing with BMW, and took up para-cycling, quickly becoming a gold medalist in the Paralympic games.
A few years ago, BMW’s racing boss, Jens Marquandt, asked Zanardi if he’d like to do run either Le Mans or Daytona in the company’s new M8 GTE. He eagerly picked Daytona, making his return to the country that made him a motorsport legend. After last weekend’s Roar Before the 24 test, Zanardi stopped by our office to talk about his prep for the race and his innovative hand control system for the M8 GTE.
As ever, Zanardi brought insight, warmth and humor into the discussion. We could’ve talked to him all day, were it not for his packed schedule of media appearances throughout New York.
We’ll be rooting for him at the Rolex 24 on January 25th and 26th. You can listen to our conversation with Zanardi on Road & Chat below and you can subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
Source: Read Full Article