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Alex Zanardi’s BMW Z4 GT3 Crashed in Baku Race

It was an unfortunate Sunday and end of season for Alex Zanardi, BMW’s official Brand Ambassador and contestant in the Blancpain Series. The last race of the 2014 season came to a sudden halt for the Italian driver when a competitor pushed him into a side wall, trashing the entire front end of the car, beyond repair.
Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3 16 photos
Photo: BMW
Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3Alex Zanardi in Baku with his BMW Z4 GT3
Both the qualifying rounds and the actual race were held yesterday, in Azerbaijan’s capital city Baku. This race of the season was part of Alex’s determined plan to make a good final impression. Despite starting off well and showing good numbers on the tight street circuit, the 47-year old didn’t have Lady Luck on his side.

“I was driving a very good race, the car felt very good and I knew sitting in a BMW would give me an advantage towards the end of the race," Zanardi reported.

“So I was just trying to take care of my equipment and keep the right distance between myself and the car in front in order to keep my tyres and brakes in good condition. I could see that other people in front where experiencing grip or brake problems, which I was not having. So I was waiting for them to lose a little bit of performance and then would have started to try to attack and move forward,” he added.

Starting the qualifying run from the 13th place on the grid, the plan was to avoid any crashes and finish in the best possible place. That only lasted for 30 minutes unfortunately, when Zanardi was in 11th place. He was hit heavily and pushed into the wall, the result of this crash having him retire.

“Then the car in front of me had a problem and I just needed to pass that guy. When I was basically alongside him going into the corner, the driver behind me misjudged his braking point, hit me quite violently, sent me into the wall and that was it,”
said Alex about the incident.

“It is a pity. My BMW Z4 GT3 was working perfectly today and it is a pretty sad reward for all my boys from ROAL Motorsport and BMW who worked so hard all weekend. I think we could have gone home much happier had we just finished the race with no misfortunes,”
he concluded.

Both the qualifying run and the victory in the race went to Cesar Ramos and Laurens Vanthoor while BMW’s best placed car was the Z4 GT3 from BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil driven by Brazilian drivers Ricardo and Rodrigo Sperafico that finished 10th and 9th.
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