BMW Brand Ambassador Alessandro Zanardi celebrates his first victory of the season.

Munich (DE), 13 th April 2015. BMW works driver and Brand Ambassador Alessandro Zanardi (IT) has successfully started his 2015 para-cycling season. He dominated at his first international handbike event of the year in the Italian region of Tuscanny, winning the weekend’s two races and celebrating the overall victory.

The competition was held at Marina di Massa (IT) on the Mediterranean coast over a flat course along the waterfront. On Saturday, Zanardi won the 45 kilometre road race, on Sunday he was victorious in the 16 kilometre time trial. In doing so, he was also the winner of the event’s combined overall rankings. With this success, he collected 16 important points for the para-cycling world rankings, which is also a qualifying criteria for the 2016 Paralympic Games at Rio de Janeiro (BR).

"I am very, very happy with my performance and it was a perfect way to start the season," Zanardi stated. "I collected important points for the world rankings and it was a good opportunity to compare my level of performance with my mates from the Italian national team. I have to say that I am pleased because my average speed was around 41 km/h, which is not too bad."

In the coming weeks, Zanardi will turn his focus to motor racing again. Together with BMW Motorsport, he will continue to prepare for the legendary 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps (BE). At this endurance classic, which will be held at the end of July, he will share the cockpit of his BMW Z4 GT3 with other drivers for the first time ever.