Paralympic hand cyclist Alex Zanardi knows the course being used at Brands Hatch next week like the back of his hand - because of his time as a Formula One racing driver.
The 45-year-old Italian suffered a horrific crash in 2001, while competing as a Champ Car (CART) driver, which saw him lose his legs - but it could have been so much worse.
As he pulled out of a pit stop in the 2001 EuroSpeedway Lausitz race on September 15, the two-time CART champion, driving for Mo Nunn Racing, was leading with 12 laps left.
But he lost control of his car and stalled, causing Canadian driver Alex Tagliani to crash into his Reynard-Honda at 217mph which split both the car - and Zanardi - in two.
The accident in Germany left the driver with less than one litre of blood in his body and his doctors could not comprehend how he had survived.
Now Zanardi, who raced for Jordan, Minardi, Lotus and Williams in F1, competes on a three-wheeled hand bike and is going for gold at the Paralympics.
'Last time I was here I was going about five times faster but I still love this circuit,' Zanardi told the Guardian.
'What saved me was the clean break,' he explained about his injuries. 'I could have easily died right there from the impact.
'They compared my injuries to a Nasa study that charts the critical point beyond which a human body cannot survive and told me I was officially a dead man.'
But despite his horrific crash, Zanardi was more determined than ever to start racing again.
'The first thing I asked myself was "How am I going to do all the things I want to do with no legs?"' he said.
Zanardi became a World Touring Car Championship driver and started racking up wins immediately.
'To drive the BMW 320 I convinced the team to create a special brake pedal that I could use with my prosthetic leg,' he said. 'Having no legs doesn’t mean you can’t drive fast and I wasn’t going to be happy scoring the odd point, I thought it was possible to win and went for it.'
In 2007 discovered hand biking - where the pedals are turned by riders' hands rather than their feet - and after only four weeks training came fourth in the hand bike section of the New York marathon.
He retired from racing in 2009 and started in his bid to get into the Italy squad for the London 2012 Paralympics.
At his fourth attempt he finally won the New York marathon and is expected to push for gold at the Games.
Zanardi has modified his own bike to suit his physique perfectly, and even described his carbon-fibre seat as 'like a Cinderella shoe'.
'It’s not much different to Formula One where they are improving the cars constantly,' he said. 'The difference is every hand biker needs a different bike depending on their residual ability,' he said.
'If some people could fly, Usain Bolt would feel disabled,' he said. 'Doing the best with what I have is the biggest challenge.'
Zanardi started in Formula One in 1991 at Jordan, before guest driving for Minardi and eventually ending up at Lotus in 1993.
He crashed during practice for the Belgian Grand Prix and was injured for the start of the 1994 season.
Zanardi made the switch to Champ Car racing in 1996 but in 1998 he signed a three-year deal with Williams back in F1.
However after his contract expired he went back to CART and it was in the Lausitz race on September 15 2001 that the accident that shaped the rest of his career occurred.
He added: 'My parents taught me that I could always improve on things,' he said. 'After my crash I never doubted it would be hard but I would be lying to say this new life has been a surprise to me. I did it because I thought it was possible.'
Factfile
Born: October 23, 1966 in Bologna, Italy
Career F1 races: 41
First F1 race: 1991 Spanish Grand Prix
Last F1 race: 1999 Japanese Grand Prix
Career F1 Points: 1
CART titles: 1997, 1998
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