Original subtitles

When Alex comes into a room, it's always

a very special moment

because he has this history.

You feel a bit reserved to begin with,

because he's so open about it and says:

“When the brake pedal's a bit longer,

I just screw on a longer leg!”

To deal with the situation like that,

you have to be a special kind of person.

It's certainly a message to everyone

trying to be successful in sport.

Alex is the best example

of how you can fight back.

I don't believe there are any limits.

Alex shows that very clearly.

It's by far the biggest project of my career.

The opportunity to be in a team

with Alex Zanardi doesn't come along every day.

Is the steering wheel spacer okay?

You get to the track in Adria

and they fire up the engine for the first time.

You think: “Wow, we're doing this now.”

I can't just say: “Oh, I don't want to drive in Spa anymore.”

There's no going back.

Not for Bruno, Alex or for me.

And obviously, not for BMW either.

There's only one direction, and that's Spa.

Normally you need more time.

All our opponents have already been together for half a year.

Drivers, team, engineers.

We're fresh, completely new.

He does everything with his hands.

Accelerating, downshifting.

The loads involved are almost twice as high as they are for us.

The crazy thing for me was,

I got to Adria and he said

he's just driven his fastest ever lap here.

The first thing you think is:

“Fine, normally I should be faster because he's the one with the handicap.”

That's what everyone thinks.

Do you want to drive the car like it is?

Yeah, I'll just drive it like this.

I climbed into the car, drove for 10 laps

and was 1.5 seconds slower than Alex.

Then I thought - good grief.

To drive those lap times, I really have to push myself.

I mean, right to the edge.

He's delivering exactly the same times as the rest of us.

He's driving the car just as much at the limit as we are.

We don't see ourselves as a dream team.

We are no pioneers, either.

We're simply a team.

We don't bother about what others say.

We have one aim - we want to finish the race and be competitive.

You shouldn't actually be that tired after a roll-out day

because you don't drive much.

But there's so much going on, so much adrenalin, so many new things.

After a whole day of goose bumps and butterflies, I was totally knackered.

Perfect! Bruno's cleaning his helmet.

Yeah, exactly!

Spa is very, very special.

Lots of stories have been written here.

There are 60 cars on the grid and it's hard to say who the main competitors are.

I only know the track from Formula 1.

I've never driven a GT car here before.

When you see the Eau Rouge in front of you like a wall...

You basically take off - you're pressed into the seat.

In the first three corners, you've actually been through everything.

A good-natured car is crucial for a 24 hour race.

If you have to fight with the car over a two hour stint

then it's going to be a long 24 hours.

Under braking, on turn-in, the back end just flips out.

After the test, we sat down as a team and analysed the problems.

And we knew where we had to make the car better.

We had a bit of preparation time, but it wasn't much.

Some would say we aren't under much pressure

because we're new to it.

But we would prefer to have the pressure to win.

Every morning when I wake up, I think to myself:

“What can I do today to make sure I'm better in the car next time round?”

You can always optimise something. It's never perfect.

You've never done enough.

There's always more to achieve. It's important to know that.

Timo and I don't actually see ourselves as driving with a handicapped driver.

I see us as three racing drivers.

Alex is a very special kind of racing driver because he's achieved so much.

I like his spirit. I like how he thinks.

It's interesting and there's lots to learn.

That's one of the most important things in motorsport and in sport in general.

You know when you get into the car you have to be 100 percent fit.

You have to deliver 100 percent performance.

That's the challenge.

As soon as your fitness fades, your concentration fades, too. You make mistakes.

And as soon as you have a lap that's half a second off the pace,

they start getting nervous over the radio and ask:

“What are you doing? Is there a problem?”

Half a second - that means one mistake, a brief lapse of attention.

Braking at 95 metres instead of 100 metres, a braking error, a wheel locking up.

We're talking about taking decisions in fractions of a second.

If you drive a two hour stint at a heart rate of 140, 150 then get out

you know what you've done.

It's even tougher and more strenuous for Alex.

That's why it will be a real marathon for him.

We got to know one another better as team mates in the DTM.

Timo is a pretty calm guy - straight as a die.

He always says what he thinks.

He's honest. I find that important.

There are few like that in motorsport.

Shall we go for a boat trip?

Yeah, I'll show you what's new.

Spending time on the boat is total regeneration for me.

If someone wants something,

he either has to swim or come out with a boat.

That doesn't happen much...

You can switch off your mobile phone and just drift.

I just can't gauge it. I drove away from Spa and had no idea where we stand.

Me neither. In the race, you have to get through the night.

No problems at the start. No accidents.

And when the night's over you're hopefully in the top 10.

But before - no idea.

And when you start in the middle of the pack, there's a high risk of an accident.

Yeah, I wonder what the first lap will be like with 60 cars on track.

I think I'll leave the start to you!

Thanks. No pressure on me, of course.

Or we'll give it to Alex.

The most fascinating thing about racing is the perfect lap.

The perfect bend. The perfect braking point.

That's a feeling you want to have again and again. It's like a drug.

Somehow, it just didn't get any better.

Our engineer asked us: “Who wants to start?” Oddly enough, nobody said: “Me, me, me!”

You get into the car,

close the door and you're in a completely different world.

You have the whole pressure that comes with it.

It's truly something special.

You get goose bumps and adrenalin. That's actually when I feel best.

There was so much aquaplaning!

Crazy... all you could manage on the straights was 120 kph.

I think that's an awesome time for him.

The car is mega right now. I reckon he'll be getting out with a big smile on his face.

Alex is driving out there with super pace and great consistency. It's cool to watch!

He's having a lot of fun.

When our engineer, Olaf, asked him if he wanted to keep on driving,

Alex said right away:

“Yes, yes, yes! I want to keep driving. I've no problems and can drive another stint.”

The only tiny contact was during the night. Front left.

That was the planned pit stop.

But unfortunately the mechanics saw there was a problem with the front right.

Something is broken, I don't know what. And nobody knows why.

We were in 8th place. So we had easily fought our way into the top 10.

But now we're in 19th place, so we've easily lost ten places.

We'll keep on fighting. Maybe top 15, but top 10 will be difficult.

What do we have now? A little over 20 hours.

My last double stint will be tough.

Bruno's done a sterling job so far.

Alex, well all you can do is raise your hat to him.

Super speed. No mistakes.

I had two or three hair-raising moments,

but Bruno and Alex probably did, too.

I just held my breath.

That happens sometimes in racing.

Now let's see what we manage in the last few hours with good speed.

All the way to the end.

You have to be ready to jump into the car at any moment.

One minute. Okay?

Now the lady has to hold on for just three more hours!

It's cool to drive the final turn, right?

Yes! A great honour! If we make it into the top 10, that would be fantastic.

23 hours. Tough!

But even that won't get us down. It will just make us stronger.

This squad will definitely stay in touch.

Maybe we'll sit this evening over a bottle of red wine,

or maybe two or three, and forge our next plans.

And off he goes! Alessandro Zanardi. Forza Italia.

A life at the limit!