Rush to Glory: FORMULA 1 Racing's Greatest Rivalry (57 page)

The chaotic scenes in the pit lanes as the British Grand Prix forms up the grid again after its aborted false start. But it would be a good 90 minutes before a restart.

The start of the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, with Niki Lauda on pole and James Hunt beside him. The serene start was soon disrupted by Clay Regazzoni, behind on the second row.

Jody Scheckter (left) and Roger Penske (right) were great friends with James Hunt during his championship season. The friendships lasted for the whole of Hunt’s life.

On the grid again for the restart of the British Grand Prix. A hostile crowd would not allow the race to be restarted without its hero, James Hunt. The crowd got its way.

Luca di Montezemolo (middle) and Piero Ferrari (right) both came to Brands Hatch to give Niki Lauda moral support at the British Grand Prix. But the politics of the team saw them take very little part in what went on.

Niki Lauda was dominant during the first half of the 1976 Formula One season and very fast at Brands Hatch. But at the British Grand Prix, he ran into James Hunt at his very best.

The Ferrari 312T2 as driven by Niki Lauda in 1976 is one of the most valuable cars in the world. If one were to come up for sale, the asking price would be $20 million plus.

Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley were both great friends of James Hunt in 1976. Mosley in particular was very close to him, and the two had come to motor sport through very different routes. Ecclestone’s interest was, as ever, fiduciary. He saw Hunt as the key to Formula One’s television future, and so it proved.

Niki Lauda had a shock at the French Grand Prix. Expecting to sweep James Hunt aside, he found a newly competitive McLaren team and then ran into severe engine problems, forcing a rare retirement.

Teddy Mayer sits on a wheel guarding James Hunt’s McLaren-Ford M23 on the grid of the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. Mayer had to stop the stewards from wheeling the car off the grid, which they wanted to do.

Niki Lauda looks on in bemusement as James Hunt stands bolt upright on the podium for the playing of the national anthem at Brands Hatch after he had won the British Grand Prix.

James Hunt celebrates his British Grand Prix victory by showering the crowd with Moët & Chandon champagne.