“A bit like Jimi Hendrix”: virtuoso performance from Alessandro Zanardi behind the wheel of the BMW M8 GTE.

Munich. The BMW M Motorsport engineers compare him to a
drummer, while Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) himself says: “I feel a bit
like Jimi Hendrix.” The manner in which the BMW works driver
controls the BMW M8 GTE that he will drive during the 24 Hours of
Daytona (USA) in January is comparable to a virtuoso performance.
Together with BMW M Motorsport, Zanardi has developed a special
system that allows him to accelerate with a throttle ring on the
steering wheel but also allows him to brake by hand, by using a
brake lever.

 

“When we started to think about what I would need to drive the car
longer in distance in an endurance race, the idea was for sure to
forget the legs and to do everything with my hands,” explains Zanardi.
That was the genesis of a plan to install a brake lever instead of the
brake pedal that he pushed by moving his hips and applying pressure
through his artificial leg. This lever is mounted on the transmission
tunnel and connected to the brake. Zanardi accelerates by using a
throttle ring on the steering wheel, primarily with his left hand. He
can change gear with a shift paddle on the steering wheel. There is
also a switch on the brake lever that allows him to shift down when
braking into turns.

 

The new system endured its first serious test during a race when
Zanardi guested in the DTM at Misano (ITA) in August. With success:
driving the modified BMW M4 DTM, Zanardi secured a spectacular fifth
place in Sunday’s race. Based on the experience gathered in Misano,
the BMW M Motorsport engineers and Zanardi then began to optimise the
system for the 24 Hours of Daytona (26th/27th January 2019).

 

“In Misano when I was driving the DTM car, I realized that my right
hand is so busy,” explains the Italian driver. “I could not keep my
hand long enough onto the steering wheel to push the radio button and
talk to the pit. Because at one point the corner was coming so I had
to reach for the brake lever. And it’s more important to brake rather
than to continue your conversation. And especially in a 24-hour race
you have to be able to report to your pit whatever is happening, the
state of the car and so on. When you change something so radical and
switch to a brake lever, there are a lot of other collateral items
that need to be adjusted. The experience from Misano helped us to
implement some different solutions, lay-out of some functions, in
buttons and triggers and switches in a different way.”

 

There is also a new horn-like extension on the left-hand side of the
steering wheel: “When I put a lot of lock approaching left-hander
turns I have difficulties to reach the throttle. This extension will
grant me the possibility to operate the throttle if I have to, leaning
up against something solid which is been shaped in this particular way.”

 

All that helps Zanardi to drive the #24 BMW M8 GTE from the BMW Team
RLL around the circuit like clockwork at the 24-hour race in Daytona.
However, he emphasises that: “Although it may not look that difficult,
it is in reality. There are switches and buttons that I have to deal
with while I am driving. There is almost no point where either of my
hands are free enough to focus on only one operation. I may have to
push a button while my fingers are opening the throttle with the ring
behind the steering wheel, I may have to trigger a downshift while
pressing the brake lever. I feel a bit like Jimi Hendrix: I play with
both of my hands.”

 

Zanardi has to complete – and be able to coordinate – extremely
complex processes in every turn: “When you press the lever with your
hand, on the same time you have to have a different feel with your
fingers. So your muscles are doing one thing, and other muscles are
doing another thing. This is incredibly complicated. Probably, it will
be easier for a guitar player, someone who is used to use his hands in
a different way. And while I am doing this, my head is basically
focused on applying the right amount of pressure but I am kind
flipping the throttle as I need to feel a little bit of power but at
the same time I am steering with the left hand. So every single muscle
is dedicated to handle a particular operation and synchronise this
all. And then I have to change something if something goes wrong –  if
the car goes sideways or you go a little deep into the corner and you
lock the front wheel. Then I have to reduce a little bit the pressure
and maybe downshift a second longer. Well, at times it gets complicated.”

 

Alessandro Zanardi – the virtuoso in the cockpit of the BMW M8 GTE is
ready for the 24 Hours of Daytona with BMW M Motorsport and the BMW
Team RLL.

 

Note to editors:

On the BMW Group Sports Facebook channel, you can find an onboard
video that shows how Zanardi controls the BMW M8 GTE as he drives
around the Daytona International Speedway: http://bit.ly/2rK1LFS.

 

We will publish more features about various topics in the weeks
leading up to Zanardi’s appearance at Daytona.