Niki Lauda : Racing’s death defying story.
Nikki Lauda would never give, he was a maverick, unpredictable and stubborn. Of all comebacks in history, his beats all. There have been stories of stirring comebacks from losing positions, but none like his. He defied death and came back to win.
This is Lauda’s story, the Austrian Formula 1 legend. If ever one needs an inspirational story this is the one.
Born in 1949 to a rich family with a business background, his parents wanted him to continue the line. Niki was adamant that he wanted to be a Race driver. He used a fake Diploma degree to prise a loan out of his parents, bought his first car, and crashed on the first day. It was never easy, but then Niki never liked easy. He was, many years later to put the idea into his words when he said …
A lot of people criticize Formula 1 as an unnecessary risk. But what would life be like if we only did what is necessary?
He went through the local sports car races, and by 1972 was in the F1 racing world,
After a few years of hard grind, and a few race wins, he was coming into his own, His reputation as a hard-working driver, always keen on improving the car and the drive suggested he was champion material.
In 1974 he finished 4th in the Drivers Championships. In 1975, driving for a resurrected and resurgent Ferrari team, he had a bad start. But a streak of wins ensured that he was in the hunt. A few top-three finishes, ensured that he was crowned the 1975 F1 Champion.
Life was looking up, Lauda was enjoying and winning at the only thing he wanted to do. His performances promised more.
The 1976 season started brightly. Lauda won the first two races in Sau Paolo and Johannesburg. He had a racing rivalry going with the Englishman James Hunt driving for Mclaren. By winning the 9th race of the season in Britain, he was almost sure of retaining his championship.
Lauda’s Nightmare : The horror at the German Grand Prix
The next was the Nürburgring circuit in Germany. With 6 races to go Lauda was the favorite.
Some believe that there is “Someone” who writes scripts for what men and women do when they pass through this planet. That Someone probably decided to add a dark chapter to the the story for Lauda
It was the 1st of August 1976. A little late July rain had left the Nürburgring track damp, but it was drying as the drivers lined up. Hunt and Lauda on the first row started off the race. There had been safety concerns with the already infamous mountainous Nordschleife section of the circuit. It was 14 miles and resembled nothing like the modern-day version.
The Nordschleife, one of the most dangerous racing sections of those days, would start flat. It would then dive downhill, twisting and turning. Soon it would do a small climb, narrow and tight on the turns. On many occasions, the cars would be airborne while they took the treacherous turn. It would then go through a section lined by tall trees and 6 feet of grass, spin out into a long, fast section, and a left-hand kink on a small raising patch. This was the Bergwerk section. and the short left kink was to become the starting marker for the legend of Niki Lauda…….it is still referred to as the Lauda Links (Lauda left).
As Niki came around the second lap, his Ferrari 312T, probably failed its suspension. The car spun on the track, the blinding speed dragged it across and threw it against the railings. The mangled car bounced back into the track and went up in orange flames. It did not look good. Lauda was trapped in the flaming car. Three of his fellow drivers stopped and pulled him out of the car. It was a selfless act by them as the flames were scorching their suits too. Lauda was trapped in an enclosed inferno with his helmet jammed for 55 seconds.
Niki was taken to the hospital with extensive burns. His skin had been charred, his eyebrows burnt away and his ears looked as if they had melted into stubs. The heat and smoke had burnt his lungs. The doctors never thought they had a chance, almost all had given up. Even a priest was called up to read him his last rites.
The Someone had seemingly decided to wrap up the story.
But Niki Lauda , obstinate as ever had other ideas. He held on, clinging on to thin air, breathing through burnt lungs, but still alive. He veered away from the script and decided to write his own. In a way only he knew. Giving up was never an option.
30 odd days later, the skin still sticking to the bandages, he was practicing at the Monza circuit in Italy. In the race, he finished fourth. As he stepped out of the car, a journalist reported seeing Niki looking like one of those embalmed mummies peeling off blood-soaked bandages before disappearing into the pit rooms.
He finished on the podium at the US Grand Prix. With just one race to go and a great chance to win the Championship, he withdrew from the last race of the season at a rain-soaked Japanese circuit and Hunt won the season by a point.
Niki Lauda had done the improbable. He had looked death in the eye through burnt eyelids, smiled at it through charred flesh, and emerged to race again. If all this was not inspiration enough, there was to be more to the story.
The Someone had now definitely given up his rights to this script.
The Nikki Lauda Story goes on….
In 1977, the next year he won the F1 Championship on a trot, again driving for Ferrari. Then in 1978, he quit Ferrari and joined Brabham which was owned by the irrepressible Bernie Ecclestone. A poor car meant Lauda, was below par, with the car affecting his racing style.
In 1979, while practicing for the Canadian Grand Prix, Lauda drove into the pits after a session, stepped out of his car, and decided to retire from Formula 1. In his words, he was tired of running around in circles.
Yet again, the story doesn’t end here, it was Niki driving the script all by himself.
Lauda, after quitting racing, started an Airline company called Lauda Air, and while he was establishing the business, he returned to F1 in 1982. He went through two seasons doing little of note.
In 1985, in the last race at Portugal, in a stunning exhibition of controlled, calculated high speed F1 racing, Niki started 11th, passed car after car, and went on to finish second behind the great Alain Prost ( who had started 1st). It was enough to give him the championship, snatching it from Prost by half a point.
That was to be his last season as an F1 driver…..He had lived, nearly died, and lived again, all the while, to his terms, and with only one unending passion, racing.
On May 20th, 2019, Niki Lauda , one of the greatest to light up the Formula 1 racing tracks, died in sleep at the age of 70. He was buried in the famous Red Ferrari suit, the one he had defied death in, and created a legend in his own style………………………..
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