Alex Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory: A Memoir of Racing Success, Adversity, and Courage [Paperback]

Alex Zanardi (Author), Gianluca Gasparini (Author), Mario Andretti (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2004

The racing world held its collective breath in 2001 when Alex Zanardi lost both his legs in a horrifying accident at the Lausitzring in Germany. The racing world again held its breath nineteen months later while witnessing his incredible return to racing. Bentley Publishers is thrilled to announce the publication of the North American edition of Alex Zanardi’s autobiography, which quickly sold over 50,000 copies in his native Italy. Alex Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory recounts his incredible story as only Alex can tell it. He takes us from his childhood in Italy through his hard-fought racing success to the moving story of perseverance and love that motivated his recovery. Along the way, Zanardi presents his triumphs and setbacks in kart racing, Formula 3 & 3000, Formula 1, IndyCar and CART racing, culminating in back-to-back CART championships for 1997 and 1998. In riveting detail, Zanardi relates his terrible accident, the long path to recovery and his return to Lausitzring in a specially modified 750hp Champ Car to complete the 13 laps he didn’t finish in 2001. In addition to 32 pages of color photos, including many from the Zanardi family albums, Alex Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory also includes the following new features: a foreword by Alex Zanardi’s friend and supporter Mario Andretti, a chronology of Alex’s racing career, and a new final chapter in which Alex discusses his return to competitive racing in the 2004 European Touring Car Championship driving for BMW Team Italy-Spain. Alex Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory is an inspiring story of how personal strength and passion can triumph over even the most challenging circumstances.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi was born in Bologna, Italy in 1966. He began racing karts in 1980 and made his Formula 1 debut eleven years later with Team Jordan. In 1996 he joined Ganassi Racing to compete in the CART Series and moved to the United States. He won consecutive CART championships in 1997 and 1998 before returning to Formula 1 in 1999 with Team Williams. In 2001 he rejoined the CART series with Mo Nunn Racing. On September 15, 2001 he lost his legs in a dramatic crash during a race at the Eurospeedway in Lausitz, Germany. In May, 2003, after 19 months of rehabilitation, Zanardi began his comeback by piloting a modified Champ car around the Eurospeedway to complete the "unfinished" laps of the tragic 2001 race. At Monza, Italy in October, 2003 he returned to competition in the European Touring Car Championship series, driving a specially modified BWM touring car. In 2004 he raced the full season of the ETCC for Team BMW Italy-Spain. He has also resumed two! of his favorite pastimes, swimming and skiing. Zanardi lives in Monaco with his wife Daniela and four year-old son, Niccolò. In response to the outpouring of support from the racing community and his fans since his crash, Zanardi has founded the Alex Zanardi Foundation to raise money for children's charities worldwide.

Product Details

• Paperback: 420 pages
• Publisher: Bentley Publishers (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0837612497
• ISBN-13: 978-0837612492
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #189,875 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > Professional & Technical > Automotive > Racing

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real story of a real human, November 24, 2004

By 

Jim B. (TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alex Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory: A Memoir of Racing Success, Adversity, and Courage (Paperback)

As a long time racing enthusiast, the pay off for me was watching the nuts and bolts of someone building a career. The fact is that Zanardi worked incredibly hard, and with huge focus to become a successful driver... and it worked! He is one of the most successful open-wheel racers in U.S. history. Then the crash and the whole battle of over coming incredible odds starts again -- bare bones.

I agree with the reviewer who says that Zanardi is definitely the center of his story, but it's a memoir. If it were fiction, I don't know how I'd feel, but it isn't. Alex does not promote himself as a saint or anything but a regular guy. He definitely didn't set out to become the poster-child for recovery; but he has tacked the challenges in his life with (a Mediterranean?) intensity.

Zanardi's childlike enthusiasm are core to his success and survival: He is very emotional guy. Most of the time, I find his tone and emotional honesty positive. Sometimes, the voice gets a little whiney, or just too emotional for me. But I was hooked, the basic story is incredible and inspiring. And it's the real deal. God help me if I have to deal with these challenges. I hope I'm half as graceful and positive.

Overall, I can only give Zanardi, and his book, my best rating.

For what it's worth, the book has more color photos than I can remember seeing in a relatively cheap book. It's got an interesting, if cheerleading, foreword by Mario Andretti, and a more or less complete career chronology at the back, with maps. My best $12 read in a long time.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book of an extraordinary story, October 5, 2004

By 

Gabriele Pedone (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alex Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory: A Memoir of Racing Success, Adversity, and Courage (Paperback)

Being Italian I had the opportunity to read the original book. I began reading at night time, and it was a big mistake because I could not put it down. The book is really cool it has funny parts and you really laugh. But the book makes you emotional when Alex talks in details about the horrific racing accident. My mother, who does not like racing, liked the book a lot and found it very inspirational. I think it's a story that crosses the motorsport community. If I could paraphrase Lance Armstrong I would say "It's not about the car". I just bought the US edition because I'm eager to read Mario Andretti's foreword and the exclusive new chapter that was not in the Italian edition. My suggestion is buy it, it's worth it!
Ciao
Gabriele

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than any self-help book on the power of optimism, December 1, 2004

By 

Lyra B (Danvers, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alex Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory: A Memoir of Racing Success, Adversity, and Courage (Paperback)

This book taught me the power of approaching life with a positive attitude. Throughout Zanardi's life and career he keeps coming up against people who tell him, "that can't be done." Then Zanardi brings to the situation his unique passion, curiosity, and optimism -- and proves the doubters wrong. And nowhere is this approach to life more evident than in the way Zanardi deals with his rehabilitation after losing both legs in a racing accident. He refuses to accept the limitations that people want to impose on him as a double-amputee. Instead he gets curious, focuses on solutions instead of problems, and ends up walking, swimming, skiing, and racing competitively again.

The book is written as if Zanardi were sitting down to a long dinner with you and telling you the story of his life. His story-telling is rich with details and he completely charms you with a combination of bravado and self-effacing humor. It was very interesting to learn what it takes to rise up through the world of open-wheel racing. Any young person who wants to race professionally could learn a lot about how it's done from this book (and how difficult a career choice racing is).

And he tells with the same level of detail the devistating story of his accident, the slow recovery from the edge of death, and his challenging adjustment to life with no legs. His curiousity and determination during his rehabilitation are infectious. There's no room for pity in Alex's story. Instead he has you laughing as he speculates about what height he'd like to be with his new prosthetic legs!

In his Author's Note at the back of the book, Zanardi claims he wanted to share his story in case it could give hope to any other people who have had to face difficult challenges in their lives. I'd have to say by that standard, this book is a great success!