Alex Zanardi nearly fatal crash at EuroSpeedway - All Angles + Pics (15 septeber 2001)
- 6 years ago
The 2001 American Memorial was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on September 15, 2001, at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Klettwitz, Germany. It was the 16th round of the 2001 CART season and the first race in the series to be held in Europe. Originally known as the German 500, the race's name was changed by CART in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.[1] Kenny Bräck won the race for Team Rahal; his teammate Max Papis finished in second place, and Patrick Carpentier was third.
The season points leader entering the race, Gil de Ferran, was awarded the pole position when qualifying was cancelled after a practice session was rained out. Bräck took the lead early in the race, and built a seven-second advantage before going off course while trying to lap another car. Carpentier took his place after the lap 64 incident, and held the lead until Tony Kanaan passed him on lap 95. After passing Carpentier for second, Alex Zanardi moved ahead of Kanaan after a series of pit stops between laps 121 to 123. Zanardi held the top spot entering his final scheduled pit stop with 12 laps remaining.
Upon leaving the pit lane, Zanardi lost control of his car, which turned sideways onto the circuit. Alex Tagliani crashed into Zanardi's car, splitting the chassis into two pieces. The crash led to the amputation of both of Zanardi's legs. The rest of the race was run under a caution flag, and Bräck, who had moved into second place before Zanardi's pit stop, secured the victory. Zanardi and Tagliani were taken to a Berlin hospital; Zanardi had a fractured pelvis and a concussion in addition to his amputations, while Tagliani was not severely injured.
Zanardi went onto pit road for his last stop on lap 142. When attempting to re-enter the track, "he seemed to accelerate too early", according to the Associated Press' recap. Zanardi could not control his vehicle's rear end, and the car slid sideways onto the track, after having gone through grass. After Carpentier veered up the track to narrowly miss Zanardi's car, Tagliani drove straight into it at an estimated speed of 200 miles per hour. The impact split Zanardi's chassis into two pieces and littered the circuit with debris. The drivers were taken by airlift to the Klinikum Berlin-Marzahn hospital. Following the accident, the last 12 laps were run under a caution flag. There was one further retirement, on lap 153; Christian Fittipaldi made a pit stop due to a fire in the back of his car and dropped out. Bräck won the race, finishing ahead of Papis and Carpentier, who were second and third respectively. Andretti took fourth place, followed by Oriol Servia in fifth, Takagi in sixth, and Kanaan in seventh. De Ferran, Scott Dixon, and Tracy rounded out the top ten.
According to CART physician Dr. Steve Olvey, Zanardi's diagnosis when he left the track was "extremely critical". His life had been endangered by the crash where the collision casued a tramatic amputation of both of his legs, resulting in the loss of 75% of his blood volume; last rites were given to him afterward. Upon arriving at Klinikum Berlin-Marzahn, Zanardi underwent a three-hour operation to clean and close the wounds. He also fractured his pelvis and suffered a concussion. Tagliani had a sore back as a result of the accident, and was released from the hospital after one day. On September 17, one of Zanardi's doctors said that his life was not in danger, although he had been placed under an induced coma in an attempt to prevent trauma shock. Doctors took Zanardi off the coma three days later, and left Klinikum Berlin-Marzahn on October 30.
Johnny Herbert, who had previously been Zanardi's teammate in Formula One, said of the incident, "It's a big shock to everybody. You have accidents, yes, but you don't expect something this gruesome." Laz Denes, a spokesman for Zanardi's Mo Nunn Racing team, said the impact was "immense, almost harder than anything I've ever seen." According to Denes, the point of contact "was about 12 inches past the cockpit," and he called Zanardi's survival a "miracle". Tagliani commented several days after the crash that Zanardi was constantly in his thoughts. During his hospital stay, Zanardi contacted Tagliani and told him that he was not at fault.
The season points leader entering the race, Gil de Ferran, was awarded the pole position when qualifying was cancelled after a practice session was rained out. Bräck took the lead early in the race, and built a seven-second advantage before going off course while trying to lap another car. Carpentier took his place after the lap 64 incident, and held the lead until Tony Kanaan passed him on lap 95. After passing Carpentier for second, Alex Zanardi moved ahead of Kanaan after a series of pit stops between laps 121 to 123. Zanardi held the top spot entering his final scheduled pit stop with 12 laps remaining.
Upon leaving the pit lane, Zanardi lost control of his car, which turned sideways onto the circuit. Alex Tagliani crashed into Zanardi's car, splitting the chassis into two pieces. The crash led to the amputation of both of Zanardi's legs. The rest of the race was run under a caution flag, and Bräck, who had moved into second place before Zanardi's pit stop, secured the victory. Zanardi and Tagliani were taken to a Berlin hospital; Zanardi had a fractured pelvis and a concussion in addition to his amputations, while Tagliani was not severely injured.
Zanardi went onto pit road for his last stop on lap 142. When attempting to re-enter the track, "he seemed to accelerate too early", according to the Associated Press' recap. Zanardi could not control his vehicle's rear end, and the car slid sideways onto the track, after having gone through grass. After Carpentier veered up the track to narrowly miss Zanardi's car, Tagliani drove straight into it at an estimated speed of 200 miles per hour. The impact split Zanardi's chassis into two pieces and littered the circuit with debris. The drivers were taken by airlift to the Klinikum Berlin-Marzahn hospital. Following the accident, the last 12 laps were run under a caution flag. There was one further retirement, on lap 153; Christian Fittipaldi made a pit stop due to a fire in the back of his car and dropped out. Bräck won the race, finishing ahead of Papis and Carpentier, who were second and third respectively. Andretti took fourth place, followed by Oriol Servia in fifth, Takagi in sixth, and Kanaan in seventh. De Ferran, Scott Dixon, and Tracy rounded out the top ten.
According to CART physician Dr. Steve Olvey, Zanardi's diagnosis when he left the track was "extremely critical". His life had been endangered by the crash where the collision casued a tramatic amputation of both of his legs, resulting in the loss of 75% of his blood volume; last rites were given to him afterward. Upon arriving at Klinikum Berlin-Marzahn, Zanardi underwent a three-hour operation to clean and close the wounds. He also fractured his pelvis and suffered a concussion. Tagliani had a sore back as a result of the accident, and was released from the hospital after one day. On September 17, one of Zanardi's doctors said that his life was not in danger, although he had been placed under an induced coma in an attempt to prevent trauma shock. Doctors took Zanardi off the coma three days later, and left Klinikum Berlin-Marzahn on October 30.
Johnny Herbert, who had previously been Zanardi's teammate in Formula One, said of the incident, "It's a big shock to everybody. You have accidents, yes, but you don't expect something this gruesome." Laz Denes, a spokesman for Zanardi's Mo Nunn Racing team, said the impact was "immense, almost harder than anything I've ever seen." According to Denes, the point of contact "was about 12 inches past the cockpit," and he called Zanardi's survival a "miracle". Tagliani commented several days after the crash that Zanardi was constantly in his thoughts. During his hospital stay, Zanardi contacted Tagliani and told him that he was not at fault.