I was always a big fan of Nigel, says Zanardi.

by Rob Wilkins

Former F1 and CART star Alex Zanardi has paid homage to Nigel Mansell, claiming that the Briton always managed to do something 'unexpected' and pull it off.

Speaking while in London to promote his autobiography, 'Alex Zanardi - My Story', the Italian told Crash.net that the best thing about 'Nige' was that he rarely gave up, turning adversity into triumph.

Zanardi, who won the CART series in 1997 and 1998, and who also raced in F1 with a number of teams, including Lotus, Williams, and Jordan, revealed that Mansell was his idol and, in his view, that they shared the same characteristics.

"I was always a big fan of Nigel," he said, "because he was the only one that would win races when other drivers would have raised the white flag."

While focusing on Mansell's championship winning year of 1992, when the Englishman finally managed to clinch the F1 title with the magnificent active ride Williams-Renault FW14B on the back of nine wins, five in succession at the start of the season, and 14 poles, Zanardi also pointed to harder events where the Briton came out on top.

"I think, not a lot of drivers, but some other drivers, could have won the championship in 1992 with the Williams he was driving," he said, "But no other driver could have done the pass he did on Gerhard Berger in Mexico, or the race he had in Hungary, when he came back from 17th or so on the grid, pulling moves on people that were totally unexpected."

Alex Zanardi - My Story is available in all good book stores now, priced ?18.99. Look out for some excerpts coming soon on Crash.net over the next few weeks. The perfect way to get a taste of what is surely one of the 'must have' Christmas presents for any racing fan. Alex's autobiography will also be available in the Crash.net shop, in the book section, from Wednesday October 20th.