It will be hard not to root for racing hero Alex Zanardi when he makes his way back to the American racing scene at the Rolex Daytona 24 in 2019. The second time CART champion lost both of his legs in a horrific crash at Lausitz in 2001, but he’s not letting that stop him.

Zanardi has teamed up with BMW and is helping to develop a special braking system for the BMW M8 GTE that will allow him to use his prosthetic legs. BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt says “I’m thrilled that we can work together with Alessandro Zanardi on this new project in 2018”.

After his accident, Zanardi has competed with BMW in the World Touring Car Championship as well as the Blancpain GT Sprint Series. But some of his greatest success has come on two wheels rather than four. In 2012 and 2016 Zanardi was able to achieve gold medal status for hand cycling in the Paralympic games.

Zanardi is a truly inspirational person and story and I can’t wait for him to get his shot in 2019.