A documentary about intense rivalry between racing drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda will be broadcast on BBC Two this Sunday (July 14).
‘Hunt vs Lauda: F1’s Greatest Racing Rivals’ will feature unseen footage and exclusive interviews from friends, colleagues and family members of both drivers, as well as the journalists who worked on the Formula 1 circuit at the height of their fierce and famous rivalry in the mid-1970s.
It will tell how Hunt in his McLaren chased the Austrian’s scarlet Ferrari in a 200mph season-long duel from Brazil to Japan.
It wasn’t long before Hunt became Britain’s number one sporting hero, filling the front and back pages of international newspapers in the scorching summer of ’76 with his outrageous car control and equally outrageous personal life.
Lauda, who was reigning world champion at the time, suffered life-threatening injuries in an horrific accident at the infamous Nürburgring circuit in Germany.
After his car burst into flames, Lauda was left stricken in the cockpit with terrible burns and even receiveing the Last Rites.
However, he staged a remarkable comeback six weeks later to push Hunt as the Englishman persued his dream of securing his first world drivers’ title.
What followed after Lauda’s terrible crash remains one of sport’s most heroic and talked-about chapters.
The Austrian went from death’s door to returning to the track, battle scarred and bleeding, taking the fight with Hunt to the final race of the year and setting up a gladiatorial showdown amid monsoon conditions at the Japanese Grand Prix.
As a racing driver and sporting personality, James Hunt’s character has never been equalled on the grid since he burst onto the F1 scene in the 1970s.
The swashbuckling Hunt had the completely opposite approach to life and his chosen craft compared to his arch rival, the scientific and methodical Lauda.
Could Niki overcome an appalling crash to come back from the dead and fight James all the way to the last race of the season?
This powerful documentary captures the heart of the 1970s – told through unseen footage and exclusive interviews with the people who were really there – the team managers, families, journalists and friends who were in the front row of the season that changed Formula 1 forever.
BBC Two’s new film follows on from the recent acclaimed BBC Radio 4 programme ‘Hunt/Lauda’, which was broadcast in March.
Presented by Vicki Butler-Henderson, the documentary featured contributions from motorsport legends Murray Walker, Stirling Moss, journalist Nigel Roebuck and Niki Lauda himself.
BBC TV also aired a documentary on the Hunt and Lauda story as part of a ‘Clash Of The Titans’ series in June 1996, marking 20 years since their epic season-long duel.
The programme recounted the 1976 Formula 1 World Championship and the clash between James Hunt and Niki Lauda for the title.
The BBC’s new one-hour documentary airs ahead of the release of the Ron Howard-directed movie drama ‘Rush’, which focuses on the events of the events of the 1976 Formula 1 season.
‘Rush’, which stars Chris Hemsworth as Hunt and Daniel Brühl as Lauda, will be released on September 13 in the UK.
Hunt vs Lauda: F1’s Greatest Racing Rivals will air on BBC Two and in high-definition on BBC Two HD on Sunday, July 14, at 9.00pm.