Tag: Alex Zanardi

Alex Zanardi watches timing & scoring from the Mo Nunn Racing pits during Friday practice for the 2001 CART race in Portland.

Alex Zanardi in the Mo Nunn Racing pits watches the timing and scoring results with his helmet still on during Friday practice for the 2001 CART race at Portland International Raceway. Alex was one of my favorite drivers ever and had returned to CART after a brief stint in Formula One, so I was eager to get a photograph of him. He struggled to find speed with his new team and would qualify last and finish last in the race when contact took him out early. A few months later a savage crash would take both legs and nearly his life. In the last handful of years he’s won gold and silver medals in handcycling at the past two Summer Paralympics games, but I was most happy to see that his enthusiasm and optimism were still going strong, as it was those qualities that made me a fan more than his extensive success on the track.