Monza, Sept 30: Former Formula One driver Alex Zanardi prepares his comeback after a crash ruined his motor racing career.

Italian driver, Alex Zanardi, who lost both legs in a horror racing crash two years ago, is to make a return to competition. Zanardi will achieve one of his greatest dreams on October 19 and take part in the final race of the European Touring Car Championship at Monza driving for BMW. The race will mark the 36-year-olds return to the track for the first time since his September 2001 accident when taking part in the German round of the Champ Car series. The Italian had both legs amputated above the knee following the sickening crash.


At Monza, Zanardi will be the third driver alongside regular drivers Fabrizio Giovanardi and Antonio Garcia, in a BMW 320i with specially adapted controls with the throttle on the steering wheel and the clutch operated on the gear shift.


"Now that I've come back to this lifestyle, I had nothing against going back to drive but I had to find the right opportunity because I could not be motivated," Zanardi told reporters after testing his adapted BMW 320i. "And this has nothing to do with my legs but it is simply my head. It is the fact I was probably very close to..., not to retire but to slow down anyway because now I have a son and I have different interests," he said.


The BMW, with most of the driving functions in a video-game style handset on the steering wheel, has provided him with the chance. But what did his family think when after all the anguish of his accident he announced he was ready to take the risks all over again?


"They may have some (concerns) in the sense in a very small corner of their mind there is a little fear and it is totally understandable, it's human nature but probably not as big as a lot of people think it is," Zanardi said. "Because, when my wife met me I was a race driver and she is used to it and she understands that what happened to me had a great deal of bad luck involved in it and, yes, it may happen again but the chances are very very remote," he said.


Zanardi doesn't warm to the idea that he might be a role-model to others who have suffered such serious injuries. His caution is not out of any false modesty but because he fears his sporting status may give the impression that recovery is beyond the reach of ordinary people.


Instead he prefers to focus on what he believes is the key to overcoming adversity -- perspective.


"I think this is a great gift. It is not a particular merit, it's a gift, it's just the way I am. I'm a very optimistic guy, very positive, you give me 50 percent and that's enough. That has helped me a lot," Zanardi explained.


"I think if you have a problem you should still have the capability to look around yourself, you should not shut all the doors and think only about your problem. You concentrate, you focus on your problem but you should say hold on a second, I've got to keep things in perspective, because I am not the only one in the world who has problems. There has got to be a way that maybe I will eliminate these problems completely but I can minimise them and that is what I have been able to do. It affects my life today very little and my life is back where it was in terms of humour daily and in terms of the time I spend laughing," he said.


Bureau Report