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Merrill Cain: Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today on this week's CART Media Teleconference. Before we get to today's guest, Alex Zanardi, we'd like to congratulate all of the drivers that competed in the Indy 500 this past weekend. The CART contingent had another good showing highlighted by Paul Tracy's second place finish and we'd like to congratulate all of them on a very good performasnce this weekend. Now we get onto today's call. I am Merrill Cain with CART Public Relations. It is truly a privilege to welcome in our guest on this week's call. He is a man who has touched so many of us in motor racing, not only by his performances on the track, but for his engaging personality and spirit off the track as well. He joins us today from his home in Monte Carlo where it's getting into the evening. We're happy to be joined today by Alex Zanardi. Thank you for joining us today.
Merrill Cain: I am sure all of you are well aware of Alex's background, but let's quickly run through a couple of highlights and then we'll get right to some questions. Alex came to the CART Series like a breath of fresh air in 1996 after competing on the Formula One circuit. He earned the Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year Award in CART, driving for Target Chip Ganassi Racing that same year. And the following season he posted five race victories en route to the CART FedEx Championship Series title. Alex made it back-to-back Championships in 1998 after recording seven race wins and he broke a lot of hearts when he decided to return to Formula One in 1999. CART was happy to welcome him back to the series last season and he made his Champ Car return competing for Mo Nunn Racing. Alex recorded three top 10 finishes through 15 events in 2001, and he was having his best performance of the season at the American Memorial in Lausitz, Germany on September 15 when he tragically lost both legs in a terrible crash as he was exiting pit lane. Since the accident Alex has shown his fierce competitive drive undergoing rehabilitation after being fitted with prosthetic legs and his story has served as an inspiration for many as he continues on the road to recovery. Alex, we'll open it up for questions in just a second. First off, I'd like to just throw one out to you. Give us an update how you are doing and what you have been up to in the past few months.
But obviously, maybe being a race driver, you know, I am never content with the result. I always want something more and therefore, it was a little bit hard at the beginning, but right now, things are going much, much better. Merrill Cain: Glad to hear it. We're all sure that you are going to make the most of it, with what you have to work with, that's for sure. Question: Are you driving a street car these days with some kind of hand control? If so, how does that work?
Question: You can pretty much drive a street car like normal before?
Question: Is there a scenario where you can see yourself getting back in a race car of some kind in the future?
If you ask me, "Alex, would you compete again at the top of motor racing like you were before," Champ Cars, for instance? Well, there's two aspects. One is purely technical, could I do that. And maybe if they would change the rule a little bit because power brakes, for instance, is not allowed in single seated cars. If they would change the rule for me, then, you know, then I could see myself driving with only my hands, and therefore, I could probably do that and probably very well because you have much more sensitivity, I find out, in your hands than you do have in your feet. Can I do it myself? Well, the desire is still there, but quite frankly, this accident that I had had a change in all my relatives, all my family around me a lot. It didn't change me at all - not one bit. I have the same attitude towards motor racing which is a dangerous activity, but my result was just a result of -- my accident was just a result of fate. So I wouldn't be scared to drive again. I would only be excited to do it again. But I have great resolve behind me, a lot of trophies, is it really worth to jeopardize the quiet of my family, you know, I don't know. It is something that I will find out along the way. Question: Zanardi!
Question: Good, Alex. Hey, the last time we talked you were thinking we were just talking about some of the things you were looking at to take the place of running everyday and we were talking about rowing and different things. Have you come up with some different ways to keep active and that you enjoy?
Actually today I was working on my boat and then I came out and I found out that I was coming home for this call, and I realized I had a flat tire. So I tried this new exercise, change my own tire. Which I didn't know I could do it before, but now I do. Question: Morris (Nunn) will be proud of you knowing that you are a mechanic.
Question: Have you had a chance to talk -- there was really a good article in Sports Illustrated about you. Have you had a chance to talk directly with (CART Director of Medical Affairs) Steve (Olvey) or (CART Chief Orthopedic Consultant) Terry (Trammell)?
Question: I just have one question, sounds like you have kind of ruled out coming back as a driver, but have you given any thought to possibly pursuing an ownership, maybe owning a team in some series?
Question: Great to hear your voice, Alex.
Question: Just wondered are we going to see you any time soon? Do you have any plans to try to get to a race any time in the near future?
I want to come to a race. I want to come to America. I don't want to wait for the series to come over to Europe because I would miss a lot of the people that are my friends that they would not go there, so the answer is yes. I haven't yet planned. The other problem is that during my accident my son was here at home for more than one month and he was partly questioning in his mind what happened, and why dad and mommy weren't coming home. Now every time we go away he's very, very scared, we're going to go away for long. Although he's obviously growing and he's understanding things, but he's -- it's kind of inevitable that when you have something like what I had, it put everything upside-down, you know, and so I am trying to reorganize my life and I will certainly cut a space to come to America. Even if it's not easy for me, but I want to come and my wife wants to come too because she's also really grateful to all the people that have been so helpful right after the accident. And there were many - basically everybody in the CART community - so we want to make this trip. I still don't know when, but we want to make one. Question: I hesitate to bring this up, I am wondering, No. 1 of what things you remember from that day, if anything and No. 2 if you have ever seen a replay of the accident itself?
I don't remember a single lap of the race itself, so....I don't know. And then it goes back to when I opened my eyes, and my wife was there next to me to tell me what had happened. I did watch many times the replay of the accident. I actually got a copy from the closed circuit video, you know, the one that the circuit has which stays on me even after the accident. It's pretty straight forward actually, and you know, at the beginning I mean, I can see that I was opening my shield, my helmet and then trying to undo my belt, and then, you know, so there was a time in which I must have been awake and I must have realized you know, what had happened. I must have said, man, it's going to be tough to fix this one (laughs), but I don't remember anything of that. I don't know if it was because of all the blood I lost, or if it is just human nature that when it is too bad it tells you, you know, we're going to erase that information. I don't know. Question: Again it's great to hear from you. Look forward to seeing you at the racetrack.
Question: Thanks for taking the time today?
Question: I guest first question I have is what kind of car are you driving?
Question: Maybe you will get another free one out of it.
Question: One of the things I guess I am interested in is what, through this whole experience, you said you haven't changed much, but what have you learned about yourself, if anything?
I don't know. Maybe I just don't ask that question to myself. Man, I mean, there's days where I am very miserable, you know, and I keep thinking, you know, if I had my legs, and doing this and that. But even when I had these days, I still do things, so today, there's always a good side and a bad said in everything. Like I was talking to Robin Miller earlier on and telling him that I had a flat tire when I came out of my boat today. At the beginning I was kind of sweating. I said, man, I didn't need this one. But then I changed that pattern so I was very proud of myself, I was all alone and I changed the tire on my own, and I didn't know whether I could do it before, so I was very, very proud. Whereas if I would have had my legs, feelings would only be, you know, bad luck that I have a flat tire. Everybody can change a tire, right, but not everybody that has to be amputated on both legs could say he has done that. So once I had done that I was satisfied. That's the same thing that I feel when I go out and I walk for three kilometers, or this is the same thing that I feel when I can walk without the cane and I can do everything. I have a house in Italy where we went the other week, and I said -- I was there with my friends and I said I am going to try to walk in the garden without the cane. We have a big garden. They said, "Yeah, yeah." They thought I was kidding because there's actually a step to go down from the house. I just went and that was it. I took the step and then I walk on the grass and I came back and they were all amazed because I was walking on the grass without the cane. Now, for everybody that has a little bit of experience with amputees, it's really tough because you have no joints basically. The only things are your hip, the knees are not there, the heels are not there, so it's really difficult. But I did it. So it was a big, big satisfaction. For me this is sort of a new life, right, and every day that I do something new it's a little win. I am the only crowd. There's no crowd like when I won Long Beach, you know, passing with two laps to go and taking the lead with two laps to go at Cleveland, but still it's an achievement for me. It's progress. I am moving forward. It doesn't matter, you know, my base, my start went down much, much -- to a much lower point compared to where it was before. But I am still climbing up. I am fighting and every time I achieve a result I realize that I am fighting; that I am improving, and so it's a reason for me to smile. Question: Another thing is, has there been anyone who has been especially important to you during this whole recovery period, any of the drivers, or anything like that that you have drawn strength from that have been especially encouraging?
Question: The Sports Illustrated article made quite a reference to Ashley Judd being there with your wife at the time, and I am wondering, you said that everybody around you - the attitude of everybody else around you changed. Who was important to your wife during this entire period?
Question: The one thing I want to ask you, you said your relatives have changed more than you. In what way do you notice that?
Question: There were times when you said you get depressed. Obviously that's definitely understandable. During those times do you ever think back, God, I am just lucky to be in the situation that I am right now, it could be a helluva lot worse?
And so I guess you have to look at your own problems. You have to try to improve your own situation and sometime along the way there's times where you cannot do what you would want and so you get a little disappointed. Not really depressed, kind of disappointed. And I guess it's normal. At the beginning you can help that by saying I could have lost my life. I could have - I could have lost more than two legs; I could have had some sort of consequence, but after sometime you start to say, man, I wish I had my legs back, it would be much easier. But most of the time I say that smiling. I am not - I know that I am a lucky guy. I know that that after an accident like the one I had, you know, only one guy out of a thousand can really go back home and still live. And I am that one. So I am totally aware of that. But on the other end, sometimes I tend to sweat. Having said that, for instance, I haven't had to drop one single tear of cry after my accident. Maybe if I could cry sometime it would help. But I am not - I don't think I am a tough guy, I just - I just have a very good relationship with life in general, and therefore, I can still see a lot of positives in my life. I often get asked the question, oh, your son must have been very, very important for your motivation to keep going or your wife or the people that love you. Yeah, they are very, very important, but they are not important for my motivation. My motivation for the man I am; my motivation it's to be alive. That's more than sufficient to fight and try to get better again than the fact that I have a son and a great family is a huge plus, but it's not that if I wouldn't have what a great son or that great family I would now kill myself because I wouldn't see any reason to live, you know? It's truly the opposite. Question: Has your relationship with your son changed at all because I notice that you said kids sometimes have a hard time reacting to certain things like this. Have you noticed has he changed at all?
Question: Alex?
Question: Yeah, you are a tough guy to get a hold of.
Question: Question for you. Have you had time to watch what is going on in open-wheel racing in the states and I wanted to know what your take on the future of open-wheel racing is in the U.S. form of open-wheel racing?
It looks like IRL is certainly gaining power, but unfortunately Champ Cars is actually losing a little bit. And I really hope that Mr. Pook can turn it around and I wish him the best because CART, it's a great series, and this war, it's just sad. I mean, I am not the first one to say what I am saying, but the cars that I drove in all my years in America is by far the best car I have ever driven. I am not saying the one I drove for Chip or the one I drove for Mo, that kind of car, that kind of chassis with that kind of turbocharged engine, with that kind of chemistry between power and control, that kind was just fantastic. And you know, if you would have to have Olympic games for motor racing, that's the kind of car that would have to be picked because that's the kind of car that would allow everybody to be, more or less, in the same situation and so that's what's out of motor racing you could really call the closest thing to sport, pure sport. Formula One is not sport. Formula One is only intense competition between teams where the competition is really the research, the technology. Because nobody could win if they wouldn't have a Ferrari or a McLaren or a Williams, you know, and with having Champ Cars, everybody could win a race and still at an amazingly high level with cars that are competing and making - producing a super exciting show. Unfortunately, this is not sufficient because this message has to be sent out to the fans in a way that the fans can really understand that and I think in the past few years message was sent out in the wrong way. The series was not advertised in the best possible way, and so that's why you know, the interest has gone down because quite frankly, I think CART could have survived the loss of the Indy 500. When I came in 1996, the interest - especially over here in Europe - was incredibly high and again, you know, technically speaking, there's nothing wrong and there's no reason why this series could be well known around the world; not only in the United States. So, to answer your question, I watch everything, and I hope there's a lot of fans will watch and still watch IRL, CART, NASCAR, everything, because it only takes a remote control and you can watch everything. Not only one series. Question: Thanks, Alex. I will keep trying you next week.
Question: You talked about the inspiration and the friendship that you had. We had Jimmy Vasser on Race Line Radio not long ago and he talked about what a tremendous inspiration you had been to him and to all of your friends. And the fans as well. Just talk a little bit about some of the support that you have had from the fans because I know the mail you have been getting and the emails have probably just been overwhelming, talk about some of the support you have had and the good wishes from the fans you have had from up there?
While I was able to raise quite a lot of money for the first six months of existence of this foundation, $85,000 which I donate to another foundation because, obviously, my foundation was at the beginning. This is only the very beginning. I still have not precise objective, whether instead the foundation, called the (World Association to Aid Children), which is the foundation that Prince Albert is running, and which was founded by his mother, Princess Grace, and they have precise objectives. One of their objectives was to complete a school and the first assistive pediatric center that they are building for kids in Madagascar and with the money that I donate them they are going to be able to finish all that. So this is a very exciting thing I have been involved with and this was only thanks to the support of all the people that were in touch with what happened to me and they love me. So now that I can see - now that I see I can do something like this, I am actually going to get even more involved. I have been on television in the recent months, more than the prime minister really in Italy. So what I have started to do because I was feeling so busy that at one point I said, that's it, I can't carry on like this. And so I said I am going to try to sell myself, at least if it's got to be a job at least I want to be paid. And all the money that I made I just turned it into the foundation. And I have been able to raise some good money myself. So this is actually an exciting thing which is not really costing me much, and I have been able to help somebody. People, I guess, the fact that I was a little popular before my accident, you know, and draw a lot of attention from the media, the fact that I kept smiling had increased this attention because people couldn't believe that a guy that lost both his legs had some reasons to smile. And so that interest continued. That's why I have been on television and in the papers very, very often. That gives me also the chance to relate with people in a better way because now when I see somebody, you know, they know which kind of reaction I had already, even if they hadn't seen me after the accident because they have read the magazines so they have seen me on television. And when I bump into them, they always pat my back and they you know, they kind of cheer me and they say, man, you know, you are really something else, you are doing really well, and whatever -- in any case, they welcome me with a smile, if you understand what I am saying, which helps me much, much more than, you know, than somebody that comes there and says, "Ooh, I am sorry, Alex, sorry what happened to you," whatever. And then it's me I have to cheer this guy up because I say, no, it's not that bad, come on, look, I can also dance, I do this and I do that. Because I don't want to waste any time, you know, with the sad face or whatever. I like to smile and I like people to smile back to me. So this whole deal of this popularity at least it helped me a lot in that respect. Question: A lot of people sure do miss your smile, Alex. Any way that you can get up to Canada you have scores and scores of fans in your country. If you are ever in Vancouver or the new race in Montreal you better stop and talk to us because you have a lot of people who love you on this side of the boarder.
Merrill Cain: We did have a couple of e-mail questions from people who couldn't join us on the teleconference today. Do you have a web site that deals with the charitable effort, a way for people to donate money.
Merrill Cain: We'll look forward to seeing if we can get a link hooked up with CART.COM. We'll go from there. Question: Great to be with you today. Best of luck to you.
Question: Good to hear your voice.
Question: When you pulled that drive that made you a Champion in racing, is it that same inner drive and competitive nature that you had that's allowed you to overcome what has happened to you?
But I guess if you get good, good results, it's because somehow you have the ability to do a better job than other people sometimes, you know, people that have - they have themselves a particular ability to compete in that event. So I think that you are correct that it's strong enough to succeed in doing a better job than a very selected opposition. And so that, I think with the same - in the same respect, you know, that's - you know, it's not that I am reacting this way that I am trying to overcome my misfortune, and what I have done in sports helps me. I think that's my character, and if it's somehow quality what you are trying to describe, it's the same quality that's helping me today that has helped me in the past win some races. But I can assure you that I have a lot of weak points and a lot of bad habits too. (Laughs) I am not a perfect man. I only try to do my best. Question: There are things within myself that limit my ability to do things and sometimes I get discouraged and I look to other people or to other things in my life to maybe say okay that I am better here. Do you feel that sometimes do you go through that?
Question: Finally some believe that the good Lord put certain people in certain positions because he wants that person to be an example or that person to have a special place in life. Do you believe that?
And yes, I do believe in God. I do believe there has got to be something that ultimately will be there to judge what we have done in this life. But I don't think, you know, I don't think that's what happened to me was so to make people think about it. It was just bad luck, and you know, that's my conclusion. Question: Thank you, Alex.
Merrill Cain: That will just about wrap it up for our teleconference today. A CART transcript will be coming out shortly. Alex, we can't thank you enough for joining us on today's call.
Merrill Cain: You sure can.
Merrill Cain: I am sure a lot of people share your opinions on that, Alex. We appreciate you sharing them with us. We all are looking forward to seeing you at a CART event this season. We hope we do get the chance to see you out there. We wish you the best of luck. We really enjoyed spending time with you this afternoon.
Merrill Cain: CART gets back into action with the Miller Lite 250 at the Milwaukee Mile this weekend. This weekend also marks CART's season debut on the CBS television network with the race broadcast scheduled to get underway Sunday at 12:30 P.M. Eastern Time. | ||||||
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