Thousands at funeral for Italian auto champ and Paralympic gold medalist Alex Zanardi

PADUA, Italy (AP) — Thousands of fans have attended the funeral for Alex Zanardi, the Italian auto racing champion-turned-Paralympic gold medalist who died last week at 59.

Zanardi’s handbike was placed near the altar inside the basilica in Padua where the service was held on Tuesday, and his hand cycling teammates sat in the front row near his wife, Daniela, and son, Niccolò.

Also in attendance were Stefano Domenicali, the president and CEO of Formula One, skier Alberto Tomba, Paralympian Bebe Vio and a host of politicians and other officials.

In 2020, Zanardi was seriously injured in a handbike accident after crashing into an oncoming truck during a relay event in Tuscany. Zanardi suffered serious facial and cranial trauma in the crash and was put in a medically induced coma.

Nearly 20 years earlier, Zanardi lost both of his legs in an auto racing crash.

One fan inside the church held up a sign that said, “Farewell Alex, your legend will never die.”

Zanardi won two championships in CART — 1997 and 1998 — in the United States, and also competed in F1.

He won four gold medals and two silvers at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics, competed in the New York City Marathon and set an Ironman record.

Zanardi died on Friday.

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A wreath reading " Hello Alex, from all at the Ferrari ", during the funeral of Alex Zanardi, Italian auto racing champion-turned-Paralympic gold medalist, inside the Basilica of Santa Giustina, Padua, Italy, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)

Niccolò Zanardi, son of Alex Zanardi, Italian auto racing champion-turned-Paralympic gold medalist, and friend Federico Zanelli, bottom right, mourn over the coffin during Alex Zanardi's funeral ceremony inside the Basilica of Santa Giustina, Padua, Italy, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)

Niccolò Zanardi, son, and Daniela Manni, wife, of Alex Zanardi, Italian auto racing champion-turned-Paralympic gold medalist, attend his funeral inside the Basilica of Santa Giustina, Padua, Italy, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)

A Ferrari flag is displayed as people attend the funeral of Alex Zanardi, Italian auto racing champion-turned-Paralympic gold medalist, inside the Basilica of Santa Giustina, Padua, Italy, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)

The handbike of Alex Zanardi, Italian auto racing champion-turned-Paralympic gold medalist, is displayed near the alter during his funeral inside the Basilica of Santa Giustina, Padua, Italy, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan faces a no-confidence motion on Tuesday afternoon, as a former coalition partner joins forces with a hard-right opposition party in a bid to bring down his pro-European government less than a year after the coalition was sworn in.

The joint effort was launched last week when the leftist Social Democratic Party, or PSD, which withdrew from the coalition in late April, and the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians party, or AUR, submitted the motion to Parliament — tipping the European Union country back into a period of political uncertainty.

Lawmakers are debating the motion in Parliament on Tuesday before a vote — which requires at least 233 votes to pass. The PSD and AUR said separately last week that they had enough support for the motion.

Bolojan, of the center-right National Liberal Party, or PNL, called the motion “cynical and artificial,” and said Tuesday in Parliament that it “seems to be written by people who were not in government every day and did not participate in all the decisions.”

“It is cynical, because it does not take into account the context in which we find ourselves,” he said. “I assumed the position of prime minister, being aware that it comes with enormous pressure and that I would not receive applause from the citizens. But I chose to do what was urgent and necessary for our country.”

Romania has faced a long period of instability after a presidential election was annulled in December 2024, and the country is grappling with one of the highest budget deficits in the EU, rampant inflation and a technical recession.

When the governing coalition was voted in last June, it pledged to make reducing the budget deficit a top priority. The PSD has often found itself at loggerheads with Bolojan over some of the austerity measures, which have included tax hikes, public sector wage and pension freezes, and cutting public spending and public administration jobs.

PSD said that Bolojan has “failed to implement any genuine reform” in his 10 months leading the government, and said Romania needs a leader who is “capable of collaboration.”

Bolojan said that he took tough but necessary fiscal measures that effectively “regained the trust of the markets in the Romanian government.”

If Bolojan is toppled, the PSD would be needed to form a pro-European parliamentary majority. The party has previously ruled out entering a government with AUR.

George Simion, the AUR leader, said Tuesday that voters had “supported and wanted water, food, energy,” but had “received taxes, war and poverty.”

“We assume the future of this country, a future government and restore the hope of the Romanians,” he said. “Romania must go back to the vote of the Romanians.”

Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, says the crisis will likely lead to a stalemate, since “no one has a majority, or a coalition, and it will take the president ... weeks to find such a majority and name a new prime minister, prolonging the indecision.”

“At this moment, there are two tentative options for a new Cabinet, both difficult to achieve; either a reshuffled coalition, without Bolojan, in the same formation ... or a minority Cabinet, rather led by PSD and satellites from populist parties, like AUR, or other small groups,” he said. “A PSD-AUR official Cabinet is not a possibility today because the president will not endorse it.”

The prime ministerial position was set to be rotated in 2027 from Bolojan to a PSD premier as part of a power-sharing agreement. A general election is scheduled for 2028.

Stephen McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.

Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan addresses a parliament session ahead of a no confidence vote in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan addresses a parliament session ahead of a no confidence vote in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan reacts during a parliament session ahead of a no confidence vote in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Romanian lawmakers stand during the anthem ahead of a no confidence vote against Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan's government in Romania's parliament in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan arrives at a parliament session ahead of a no confidence vote in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)