- Rush is the title of a new movie planned about three-time world champion Niki Lauda.
- The film will depict the 1976 championship battle between Niki Lauda and James Hunt.
- Lauda survived a catastrophic, fiery crash at the Nürburgring, but lost the title to Hunt.
LONDON — Almost before the shrieking-engines soundtrack of Senna has faded, another movie focusing on Formula 1 — this one about Niki Lauda and the 1976 season — is being reported by various motorsports and movie-industry news sources.
Rush is the title assigned to the film, and Ron Howard is reportedly in line to direct.
Long-time F1 fans will remember with a mixture of awe and horror how Lauda survived an inferno in a crash at the Nürburgring and miraculously returned to the cockpit of a Ferrari after missing only two races, the world driving championship still within his grasp.
The Austrian ace was destined to lose the championship to playboy James Hunt of Great Britain in a freak finish to the season, when Lauda withdrew from the rain-soaked Japanese Grand Prix. Hunt soldiered on through the rain and gained enough points to take the title.
Lauda, the only driver to have broken the seven-minute mark on the lengthy Nürburgring circuit, had voiced strong concerns about the dangerous, 14-mile Nordschleife track prior to the fateful German Grand Prix and had hoped to persuade his fellow drivers to boycott the race.
The track was rendered even more dangerous by rain which dampened part of the course but not all of it, leaving drivers with no satisfactory tire choice.
Lauda's red car veered off course early in the race, caromed off an earth bank and spun onto the track, engulfed in flames. Two other cars hit the wrecked Ferrari. Their drivers, plus two others, managed to free Lauda from the wreckage after he was trapped in the inferno for more than a minute.
The race was restarted after Lauda was taken by helicopter to a hospital, and Hunt won.
Cross Creek Pictures is the production company in charge of the project. Peter Morgan, screenwriter for Howard's Frost/Nixon, is reportedly on board to provide the story.
Inside Line says: This story is one of the most compelling in auto racing history, with no embellishment needed. As usual, technical re-creation of the racing action will be a challenge. Here's hoping "Opie" and his team are up for it.
Add A Comment »
agentorange says:
11:35 AM, 07/02/2011
I remember reading the account of that race in Autocar in the school library. It was so well written you could smell it. I think the name of the journalist was Eoin Young.
Sadly, I think I finally threw away all my old Autocars in the 1990s. I could not afford the space, and certainly not the shipping to bring them to the US.
90in55 says:
09:07 PM, 07/01/2011
With Ron Howard, we'll get either genius or schmaltz. Here's hoping it's the former.
viss1 says:
05:49 AM, 07/01/2011
Awesome.
And I'm still waiting for "Senna" to be shown somewhere within 300 mi. of me.
wjtinatl says:
05:04 PM, 06/30/2011
I remember the Happy Days episode with Richie wearing his Ferrari letterman jacket and telling Potsie and the 'Fonz about how an F-1 car was far superior to a chopped '34 Ford with a flathead!
sgude says:
03:43 PM, 06/30/2011
Ron Howard is definitely going to be up to it. I believe he is a motorsports fan, particularly of Formula One, and he is definitely old enough to remember Lauda's crash at the Nurburgring. I'm looking forward to it.