“The Pass”, Zanardi’s exceptional overtaking at Laguna Seca in 1996

While theIMSA As the event took place this Sunday, May 3rd in Laguna Seca, the world of motorsport was saddened to learn of the passing of Alessandro Zanardi, two-time CART champion in 1997 and 1998.

In 1996, the American championship race car Laguna Seca entered the minds of American fans because of the legendary overtaking maneuver undertaken by Alessandro Zanardi on the final lap on Bryan Herta.

On September 8, 1996, Bryan Herta chased his first CART victory (former name of theIndyCar). The man who now manages his son's career, Colton Herta, leads most of the race, thanks in part to a driving error by Alessandro Zanardi.

The Italian comes back with long strides on his opponent until starting the final loop less than a second behind Bryan Herta. The rest is American motorsport history, with a maneuver that was nicknamed “The Pass” in the Corkscrew. The one and only :

Nowadays, this attack would have been immediately penalized because Alessandro Zanardi went well beyond the track limits! But at the time, there was total ecstasy over this attack coming from extremely far out, and Zanardi was declared the winner.

“Laguna Seca is a place where it is very difficult to overtake, unless you are a second faster than the driver in front of you, explained Alessandro Zanardi in 2019 on the sidelines of the 24 Hours of Daytona. I was waiting for an opportunity to present itself to me, for him to make a mistake, but he drove perfectly, lap after lap. So, I began to hatch my evil plan (laughs).

I was hoping that on the last lap, Bryan would relax a little bit after negotiating Turn 5, which is normally the last place where you could have a chance of overtaking someone. I was ready to dive, I swear to God! I must admit that the execution of the maneuver was slightly different from what I had thought possible. I thought I could keep all four wheels on the asphalt. I dove into the Corkscrew, I was very scared!

I was able to regain control of the car after a brief moment when I was just a passenger in the single-seater, which was moving all over the place. The line between being seen as a hero and a fool is very thin…

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