IndyCar: 18 years later – Alex Zanardi’s devastating crash

Alex Zanardi was involved in one of the nastiest crashes in IndyCar history 18 years ago today, leaving him without either of his legs.

As a tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that had taken place just four days prior, the CART race that was originally called the German 500 at EuroSpeedway Lausitz was renamed the American Memorial 500.

On Saturday, September 15, 2001, tragedy struck the motorsports world through one of the worst crashes in IndyCar history.

On lap 143 of this 154-lap race around the three-turn, 2.023-mile (3.256-kilometer) EuroSpeedway Lausitz superspeedway in the village of Klettwitz in the state of Brandenburg, Germany, Alex Zanardi was leading the race when he came into the pits for what would be his final pit stop.

Coming out of the pits, Zanardi lost control of his car, and that split-second had devastating consequences.

The oncoming car of Patrick Carpentier nearly slammed into Zanardi’s car as it spun. Fortunately, there was no contact.

Carpentier recalled the accident. Here is what he had to say, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"“I almost hit Zanardi. He came up the track and I went sideways and almost hit the wall to avoid him…I knew somebody was going to hit him because he was going up the track and we were at full speed.”"

But while Carpentier was out of the woods, Zanardi wasn’t.

The oncoming car of Alex Tagliani slammed into Zanardi’s car, resulting in a massive accident in which Zanardi’s legs were effectively ripped from the rest of his body.

That Zanardi survived this incident and Tagliani did not suffer any major injuries was miraculous in itself. Perhaps even more miraculous is the recovery that the now 52-year-old Italian continues to make 18 years ago.

More from IndyCar

After this wreck happened, Zanardi was in “stable but critical” condition upon hospitalization. He was breathing on his own, and perhaps most importantly, had not suffered any significant internal injuries.

But if you’ve seen any of the images of this crash, you know that he wasn’t off the hook.

Both of Zanardi’s legs were amputated, and that resulted in the end of what was a successful career in open-wheel racing. He competed in Formula 1 for one season and won 15 CART races in just 66 starts in less than four seasons driving in the series. He won two CART championships.

A few years ago, Zanardi did an interview and discussed what he believed — before the accident — would happen and how he would feel if he were to ever experience such a violent crash with such devastating consequences.

Having experienced that accident, listen to what he had to say.

But with the crash behind him, he is on a far different path than the one he envisioned that he would take.

Despite what he previously thought, he was determined not to give up after his accident.

And since then, it has paid off.

Not even four years later, he began racing in the World Touring Car Championship, winning four races between 2005 and 2009 as a double amputee. In 2014, he also competed in the Blancplain Sprint Series and finished a race in the top five.

Zanardi also took up handcycling, which led him to compete in two Paralympic Games, one in 2012 in London, England and another in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In both of his appearances in the Paralympics, he won multiple gold medals.

Last year, Zanardi competed in two Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) races, and in just his second career start, he finished in fifth place. This year, he made his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the 24 Hours of Daytona at Daytona International Speedway.

There are certain anniversaries each year that can’t go undiscussed, and Zanardi’s life-changing wreck is one of them. As such, this is my fourth consecutive year writing about it, and one of the reasons for that is what Zanardi had to say one day after winning a gold medal in the Paralympics back in 2016.

One day before the 15-year anniversary of his wreck on Wednesday, September 14, 2016, here is what he had to say, according to the BBC.

"“I feel very lucky, I feel my life is a never-ending privilege…Normally I don’t thank God for these type of things as I believe God has more important stuff to worry about, but today is too much, I had to raise my eyes and thank him.“Even my accident, what happened to me, became the biggest opportunity of my life. All the things I am doing today are related to my new condition. When you find yourself in a certain situation you have to identify where you want to go and focus on what you can achieve on that given day.“Whether it is a small thing or big one, step-by-step you can make things happen. At the time I was asked if I would ever step back in a race car, but what was very important for me was to go into the bathroom and pee on my own, but I could not do that.“I had to be helped. That was my number one priority. Day by day I managed to regain control and strength, regain some confidence and concentrate on different things and here I am now.”"

Next. Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time. dark

Now 18 years have passed since Alex Zanardi’s crash changed his life forever. But his journey, a journey of strength and determination that not even Zanardi could have seen coming, never ceases to amaze.