Niki Lauda has died. Really one of the best of all time, a true legend of motorsport who narrowly cheated death at the Nurburgring in 1976. R.I.P. Niki, you had a good run.
tear
Tough as nails, that one was.
Wow! I’m shocked.
Wow. He could make a car dance and sing. I remember his red and white Ferrari 312T of the 1970s.
Rest in Peace, Niki. Say hello to Ayrton for me.
You might look at the movie Rush, a 2013 biographical sports film centred on the Hunt–Lauda rivalry between two Formula One drivers, the British James Hunt and the Austrian Niki Lauda during the 1976 Formula 1 motor-racing season–discussed here previously:
James Hunt died in 1993 at age 45 from a heart attack.
He is the only F1 (or any driver, really) that my wife knows by name and face. He’ll be missed in the shunpiker -and many others- household.
Godspeed, Mr. Lauda!
Huh. I just watched that movie again the other day. Despite featuring Thor prominently in all of the marketing, the movie was really his story, not Hunt’s. (Outstanding, criminally overlooked movie, BTW)
Sad, but it could be argued he got an extra 40+ years; he should have died in that wreck.
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Worth mentioning that they were, of course, rivals but they were also friends, they admired and respected each other and were probably far more similar than the film makes out.
A sad day but it is fitting that the Monaco grand prix is this weekend and will form a great backdrop to whatever tribute F1 puts on.