The 53-year-old Zanardi, whose legs were amputated after a car race nearly 20 years ago, lost control of his mobile device while competing in the “Obiettivo tricolore” relay in Tuscany, Italy, on Friday.
According to multiple reports, he has crossed the White Line on the way of an upcoming truck, and has been unable to avoid it.
After the accident, the Italian was airlifted to the Santa Maria il Scott Hospital in Siena where he underwent three hours of emergency neurosurgery with head injuries.
A hospital statement said Zanardi was in a “stable” condition in intensive care after surgery.
The brochure states: “It is incubated and supported by artificial ventilation while the neurological picture remains dangerous.”
Zanardi’s ordeal came to the headlines of all the major Italian sports newspapers with news spreading about the seriousness of his accident.
“No, Alex, no!” “Come Alex # Zanardi, don’t give up. All of Italy is fighting with you,” Corriere dello Sport said, while Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte wrote on Twitter.
Zanardi competed with Jordan, Minardi and Lotus in Formula 1 before the successful transformation of the CART race in the United States where he was the champion of the series in 1997 and 1998.
He returned to F1 with Williams for one season in 1999 before returning to the CART series.
In that formula, he suffered his notorious car crash 320 km away in Lausitzring in Germany in September 2001, to escape his life, but he lost his legs.
In an incredible show of determination and soul, Zanardi adapted to his prosthetic legs and competed in the European Touring Car Championship in 2003, driving a BMW.
But for his exploits on a motorcycle, the man from Bologna became known to a global audience, winning multiple medals at the Paralympics 2012 and 2016 and world championships.
He was training for this year’s Paralympic Games in Tokyo, hoping to add to his impressive gold medal tally, until he was put off.
Zanardi also competed in the harsh Ehrlan races, setting an even better new world for disabled athletes in a race in Italy last September as well as continuing to specially modified BMW cars in many endurance racing events.
Support messages have sprung up across the sports world, as the former Formula 1 world champion and IndyCar Mario Andretti legend wrote: “I am so worried and afraid of Alex Zanardi that I am holding my breath. I’m his friend. I’m his friend.
“Please do what I do and pray, pray for this wonderful man,” he tweeted.
The former Williams team posted on Twitter: “Alex is one of the truly inspiring people in life, and as we all know, he’s a fighter through and through. Stay strong and Forza Alex.”
“Fight and you know how to do it, Alex. You are a great and brave man,” Ferrari superstar Charles Locklear posted a tweet in Italian.
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