WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca will rename its most famous sequence the Zanardi Corkscrew, 30 years after Alex Zanardi produced one of IndyCar racing’s most celebrated overtakes there.
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca will permanently associate its most recognisable corner with Alex Zanardi, renaming the circuit’s Corkscrew in honour of the late Italian and the extraordinary pass that helped define his racing career.
The two-corner sequence will officially become the Zanardi Corkscrew on Friday, three decades after Zanardi attacked the inside of Bryan Herta on the final lap of the 1996 CART season finale. The move, known simply as “The Pass”, has since become inseparable from both Zanardi and Laguna Seca.
It was audacious even by the standards of a driver whose CART career was built around aggression and precision. Zanardi had been chasing race leader Herta before launching his Honda-powered Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard down the inside as the pair approached the Corkscrew.
He carried the car across the inside of the sequence, emerged ahead and went on to claim his third victory of a remarkable rookie campaign.
The Pass became part of Laguna Seca history
The Corkscrew was already one of motorsport’s most distinctive pieces of circuit architecture.
Its combination of a blind approach and dramatic elevation change makes commitment on entry critical, with the track falling sharply away as the cars change direction. Zanardi’s attempt pushed those characteristics to their limit.
With the white flag already shown, there was no opportunity to recover from a failed move. Herta had controlled the race, but Zanardi committed to the inside and found a route through the sequence that would become one of the defining images of 1990s American open-wheel racing.
The victory completed an outstanding first CART season for Zanardi, who was named rookie of the year in 1996.
Zanardi became a double CART champion
The Laguna Seca victory was also an early indication of what followed.
Driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, Zanardi won consecutive CART championships in 1997 and 1998, establishing himself as one of the championship’s leading drivers during one of its most competitive periods.
His attacking style and personality made him a prominent figure in American racing, with the Laguna Seca pass becoming the moment most closely associated with his time in the series.
Chip Ganassi is among the figures expected to attend Friday’s naming ceremony.
Bruce Canepa, who met Zanardi during his rookie IndyCar season, recalled the characteristics that made the Italian such a distinctive presence in the paddock.
“I met Alex in his rookie IndyCar year with Chip [Ganassi],” said Canepa. “We will always remember his fearless racing style, his determination and, perhaps most of all, that infectious smile that made him so beloved throughout the motorsports community.”
Zanardi’s career extended far beyond CART
The significance of the tribute reaches well beyond what Zanardi achieved at Laguna Seca.
His racing career changed dramatically following his 2001 accident at the Lausitzring, where he suffered injuries that resulted in the amputation of both legs.
Zanardi later returned to competition using specially adapted machinery, racing touring cars and becoming closely associated with BMW. His achievements outside motor racing were equally significant, as he built a successful Paralympic handcycling career.
That combination of elite-level competition, adaptability and determination made Zanardi a figure whose influence extended beyond any single championship or race victory.
Following his death in May, Laguna Seca’s decision gives that legacy a permanent physical place at the circuit where one of his greatest racing moments unfolded.
The Corkscrew will now carry Zanardi’s name
Few corners in motorsport are as immediately identifiable as Laguna Seca’s Corkscrew, and fewer still are so closely associated with a single overtake.
Renaming it the Zanardi Corkscrew formalises a connection that has effectively existed since 1996.
Thirty years after Zanardi sent his Reynard down the inside of Herta with the CART season reaching its final moments, drivers will now approach the same dramatic drop carrying his name with them.
