Nearly a year and a half after suffering a traumatic brain injury following a paracycling accident, auto racing champion and Paralympic gold medalist Alex Zanardi has been moved from a specialized rehabilitation facility to continue the process from home in his native Italy.

“The recovery continues to be a long process,” Zanardi’s wife Daniella said in a communication distributed by BMW. “The rehabilitation program led by doctors, physiotherapists, neuropsychologists and speech therapists has enabled steady progress. Of course, setbacks are there and can still occur. Sometimes you also have to make two steps back in order to make one step forward. But Alex proves again and again that he is a real fighter.