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Former F1 driver and Paralympic champion dies ‘abruptly’ aged 59 as tributes pour in

Former System 1 driver Alex Zanardi, who turned a Paralympic champion after shedding each of his legs in a horror crash in 2001, has died aged 59.

Alex Zanardi has died on the age of 57. (Picture: Getty)

Former F1 star turned Paralympic legend Alex Zanardi has handed away on the age of 59. All through the Nineties, Zanardi competed in F1 for Jordan, Minardi, Lotus, and Williams from 1991 to 1999, and was additionally an everyday fixture in CART for Chip Ganassi.

His motorsport profession was dropped at a devastating finish in September 2001 on the Lausitzring in Germany, when a catastrophic 200mph crash noticed him be struck side-on by Alex Tagliani, ensuing within the amputation of each his legs. Along with shedding each limbs, he additionally misplaced 75 per cent of his blood, suffered a damaged pelvis and was positioned into an induced coma.

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Zanardi regained consciousness 5 days later and instantly set his sights on returning to racing in no matter capability he may. In 2003, he went again to the Lausitzring to finish the remaining laps he had been unable to complete on that fateful day in 2001.

In 2006, he took to the wheel of a BMW Sauber F1 automobile in Valencia and later drove a modified BMW M8 in 2019, when he took half within the Daytona 24 Hours. He in the end turned his consideration from motorsport to handcycling on the Paralympic Video games.

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