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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Zanardi Grabs Another Gold At London Paralympics
"To win this race in this way, in such a dramatic way and sprinting makes me really proud,' said Zanardi, who will go for his third gold on Saturday.
Alex Zanardi captured his second Paralympic gold medal on Friday after an inspired come-from-behind performance at Brands Hatch. (Photo: Getty Images)
Alex Zanardi built upon his inspiring performance at this week's London Paralympics in fitting style, adding his second gold medal to go with the pair of CART Indy Car championships he earned in 1997 and 1998.
The 45-year-old Italian claimed his first gold medal in the 16-kilometer H4 Time Trial on Wednesday, and added gold in the 64-kilometer Individual H4 Road Race competition at the Brands Hatch circuit.
"To win this race in this way, in such a dramatic way and sprinting makes me really proud,' said Zanardi, who will go for his third gold on Saturday.
"It shows that I am a complete cyclist, even if I have no legs. I just tried to save as much as I could during the race. I know I'm a good sprinter and just had to be confident in myself. And it worked."
Zanardi completed the grueling event using hand-powered cycles in two hours and 32 seconds, edging South Africa's Ernst van Dyk by a slim one-second margin. Wim Decleir of Belgium was third with a time of 2:00:35. American Marine Oscar Sanchez finished fifth.
Of the 10 cyclists in the event, Zanardi completed the first lap of the 8-lap event in sixth-place, and fell all the way back to eighth by Lap 5, but he rallied back, taking the lead with two laps remaining.
"The race did not go as I expected," he said. "I thought that I could take off soon and that I would only need to stay calm, but at the fourth lap I tested my opponents and understood my tactic would not work, so I changed it completely and only tried to save, save and save.
"I used the uphills as rest, the others were overtaking me, then in the downhills I caught them up and regained my position. I managed my energies well. It's been a tough race, I could have very well lost it."
As IndyCar team owners Chip Ganassi and Jimmy Vasser revealed earlier in the week, once Zanardi concludes his Paralympics activities, a run at the 2013 Indianapolis 500 could be on the cards.
PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: Alex Zanardi At The 2012 Paralympics
Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, and covers the IndyCar Series. Before joining SPEED, Pruett worked in open-wheel racing for 20 years as a mechanic and engineer. He also contributes to RACER, Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him @MarshallPruett.
The 45-year-old Italian claimed his first gold medal in the 16-kilometer H4 Time Trial on Wednesday, and added gold in the 64-kilometer Individual H4 Road Race competition at the Brands Hatch circuit.
"To win this race in this way, in such a dramatic way and sprinting makes me really proud,' said Zanardi, who will go for his third gold on Saturday.
"It shows that I am a complete cyclist, even if I have no legs. I just tried to save as much as I could during the race. I know I'm a good sprinter and just had to be confident in myself. And it worked."
Zanardi completed the grueling event using hand-powered cycles in two hours and 32 seconds, edging South Africa's Ernst van Dyk by a slim one-second margin. Wim Decleir of Belgium was third with a time of 2:00:35. American Marine Oscar Sanchez finished fifth.
Of the 10 cyclists in the event, Zanardi completed the first lap of the 8-lap event in sixth-place, and fell all the way back to eighth by Lap 5, but he rallied back, taking the lead with two laps remaining.
"The race did not go as I expected," he said. "I thought that I could take off soon and that I would only need to stay calm, but at the fourth lap I tested my opponents and understood my tactic would not work, so I changed it completely and only tried to save, save and save.
"I used the uphills as rest, the others were overtaking me, then in the downhills I caught them up and regained my position. I managed my energies well. It's been a tough race, I could have very well lost it."
As IndyCar team owners Chip Ganassi and Jimmy Vasser revealed earlier in the week, once Zanardi concludes his Paralympics activities, a run at the 2013 Indianapolis 500 could be on the cards.
PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: Alex Zanardi At The 2012 Paralympics
Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, and covers the IndyCar Series. Before joining SPEED, Pruett worked in open-wheel racing for 20 years as a mechanic and engineer. He also contributes to RACER, Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him @MarshallPruett.
2013 INDY 500 Practice
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