Gutsiest performence?

[00steven]

Last night on Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain he was asking what some of the greatest performences after injury were. So I thought I'd start a thread asking what you guys thought on the topic?

Mine is a popular choice, the comeback of Alex Zanardi. What this man has gone through and bounced back from is a true testament to his character. He is a true inspiration.

Others for me include; Rick Mears comeback after his crash at Sanair, Ricky Rudd taping his eyes open to race, Danny Ongais racing just one year after his near fatal crash at Indy, and A.J. Foyt bouncing back from various injuries in his career.

Truly amazing men.

[garyshell]

Zanardi +1

Gary

[harvick#1]

yes, Zanardi +2

[libra65]

Zanardi+3--nobody else can compare to that come back!!

[SarahFan]

Zanardi at Vegas!!!!!

[DBell]

How about Niki Lauda? Back in an F1 car 6 weeks after being given last rites following his Nurburgring crash. Anyone who has seen the pictures of him wrapped in bandages when he came back knows that must have been extremely painful.

I agree about Zanardi. One of the most inspirational people I've ever known about.

[Chris R]

How about Niki Lauda? Back in an F1 car 6 weeks after being given last rites following his Nurburgring crash. Anyone who has seen the pictures of him wrapped in bandages when he came back knows that must have been extremely painful.

I agree about Zanardi. One of the most inspirational people I've ever known about.

That was very gutsy on Lauda's part - and he still nearly won the championship that year - really only losing it because he (also quite gutsily) withdrew from the Japanese GP due to terrible conditions.... I would call Lauda's move almost entirely gutsy simply because it was not also stupid..... some of these guys who have driven with broken bones or other injuries have put themselves and their fellow competitors in additional and un-needed danger for ego and not much else.... Lauda had to hurt like crazy but I do not think he was in any danger of hurting himself worse or doing something that would harm his competitors due to his driving hurt.....

Zanardi is a real hero - it took guts to come back - but his story is more in his relentless recovery than in actually driving a car again..... It took guts to strap himself in after such terrible injuries and it took tremendous courage and drive to do what it took to recover and get to the point of driving competitively again - but the final move to the car was not as big a deal... I do not mean in any way to take away for his HUGE accomplishment - his recovery is one of the greatest stories in racing history - but his actual return to a car is dwarfed in comparison to his survival and recovery and in many ways was not as dramatic as Lauda's return (as well as some of the others mentioned here....).. He also returned to show he could more so than to win races - again I do not mean to take anything away from that - it is huge and amazing - but Lauda came back to win (and did so many times again).

So, please understand, I am not trying to take anything away from Alex but I think Niki's situation is more in line with the question asked.....

[garyshell]

Chris, don't forget that Zanardi came back to race as well. Not in the same series, mind you, but he did race (and win) again nonetheless.

Gary

[Chris R]

Chris, don't forget that Zanardi came back to race as well. Not in the same series, mind you, but he did race (and win) again nonetheless.

Gary

I know, and I really hesitated to say anything - I mean, the guy is undoubtably tough as nails.... I am amazed by his recovery.... I just think it is more a story of out and out survival than a story of gutsy race driving - in the big picture of "life", Zanardi wins hands down but in the more limited view of a racing career before, after, and during an injury Lauda's story is pretty compelling....

[Anubis]

Jonny Herbert scoring points on his F1 debut in 1989 springs to mind. Also, even though he did moan a lot, some of Mansell's drives in the aftermath of his Phoenix crash in '93 were pretty damn heroic. Not a patch on Zanardi, it must be said, whose strength of character and positive outlook after such a traumatic crash continue to inspire.

[Leo Krupe]

Gotta be Zanardi.

[Marbles]

I think Brack deserves mention here.

[jimispeed]

Zanardi.........he lost 70% of his blood according to medical reports. That alone is enough!

His comeback to racing, and dedication to competition is unparalleled!

[I am evil Homer]

Zanardi, Lauda and Mears in that order.

I'd go with this. Zanardi's story is inspitational.

Lauda has immense guts and balls of steel to get back in an F1 car again and although he was badly injured he still had full function of his body.

[dataman1]

I can't take anything away from any of the drivers already listed as they were all special. I can think of a couple of broken backs that came back, Buddy Lazier and Bruno Junquera. Not nearly a Zanardi or Lauda story but still worth the mention.

I was in Germany working the race when Zanardi's event happened. What a gloomy day that was.