BMW Motorsport - Racing Comeback by Zanardi

BMW
Press and Public Relations

17 September 2003


Racing comeback by Alessandro Zanardi:
The Italian will be driving for BMW at the ETCC race in Monza on 19 October


Munich. Alessandro Zanardi will be competing in motorsport again for the
first time since he
suffered severe injuriesas a result of an accident two years ago. The
Italian lost both legs
when he was competing in a round of the American ChampCar Championship at
the
Lausitz EuroSpeedway on 15 September 2001. Now, he'll be back in business
again for
BMW in the FIA European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) on 19 October 2003.
In
Monza, Zanardi will be the third pilot in the BMW Italy-Spain Team managed
by Roberto
Ravaglia driving in the final race of the European Championship. He will be
piloting a BMW
320i specially adapted to his requirements.

In the race two years ago, Zanardi was in the lead. He pitted 13 laps before
the finishing
line and then lost control of his car just after the exit. There was a bad
crash with another
car and the former Formula 1 pilot spent several days on the danger list.

"Two years ago I escaped death by a whisker," commented the 36-year-old from
Bologna.
"Although the situation was really bad at the time, I set myself the goal of
leading a normal
life again at some time in the future. Today, I can walk, I swim, I go
skiing, and on 19
October I will complete my vision by competing seriously in a race. I should
like to thank the
entire BMW Team Italy for this fantastic opportunity and for all the energy
that has been
invested in the engineering that was necessary for me. I also have to thank
the company
Fadiel for their inestimable cooperation. I believe that sometimes in life
it's difficult to regain
your courage after a stroke of bad luck. If I manage to keep pace in Monza
in October, I
shall have reaffirmed my faith in myself: where ther'’s a will, there's a
way."

The engineers from Ravaglia Motorsport have converted a BMW 320i for Alex
Zanardi. He
can accelerate on the steering wheel and the clutch is operated on the gear
shift.

Team manager Roberto Ravaglia is totally committed to the project: "When
Alex came to us
and said he wanted to drive a BMW, we immediately put all systems on go to
provide full
technical support. We have already seen some exciting performances from the
telemetry
data. His performance is particularly impressive when you reflect on the
obvious difficulties
and the lack of training. That motivates the team to prepare the car in the
best possible
way."

BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen is enthusiastic about the project:
"It's an honour
for us that Alex is able to make his dream come true in a BMW. We are
extremely happy to
provide him with the support of all our expertise and engineering
skills. His project reflects
the BMW Motorsport philosophy of always searching for new
frontiers. Whatever the result
of the race, Alex has already won through as far as I'm concerned."