Only snippet of information I have found lately is this short article in some Österreicher paper that I don't know anything about, so can't vouch for its accuracy, etc... According to said article, his friend Helmut Marko and his brother both say that he is fighting for recovery, but that it is somewhat slower than hoped for; The Rat expected to be back in the Mercedes pits for the spanish G.P, but had to settle with watching the race on T.V instead.Seems he is treated in Switzerland, has trouble with kidney trouble and dialysis, etc... Seems rather "complicated", shall we say... https://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/chronik/Lauda-kaempft-in-der-Schweiz-um-Comeback/379694385 Rgds
If anyone doubts that he accepts that nickname, here's proof that he does: Image Unavailable, Please Login From "Road & Track", Dec. 1977
Ah shucks...I tend to forget that I'm getting old; well, at least old enough to actually having watched the motor scene of these days (the pic is from Dec 1977, I turned 18 in January 1978) , and I remember these days very well. So when I called him "The Rat", it was not derogatory in the slightest way; to me it is a nickname "appointed by Niki himself", but I forgot that maybe not everyone on this forum knows about it... Thanks for the reminder, Jim. (can you believe that the Rat turned 70 in February? My, my, my...) Rgds
IIRC the Super Rat moniker stemmed from a complaint by Niki of "rabbit" drivers at the back of the pack--privateers(remember those?) notably Brett Lunger, Guy Edwards, Harald Ertl and others. I think that Brett may have come up with the "Rat" nickname. At any rate Lunger had a silhouette of a rabbit painted on the car next to his name; shortly thereafter Lauda adopted the Super Rat nickname. All in good fun. Ironically it was those "rabbit" drivers--Lunger, Edwards, Ertl and Merzario--who first came to Lauda's aid after the terrible accident at the Nurburgring. They may have saved his life.
I do remember that race very well, I watched it on TV; where I was living at the time, close to the German border - well, almost ON the German border actually: two miles, as the crows fly - we received the German TV very well. By the way, 1976 was the year that the french TV (Which was the state TV, at the time) started to expand its coverage of Formula One "somewhat"; up to that year, they broadcasted only the Monaco G.P and the French G.P. So they aired the 1976 Autrichian G.P, which was the race after the German G.P and Lauda's accident; and what a race it was! Peterson, Watson, Scheckter, Laffite to name a few, fighting tooth and nails for victory...Watson won and shaved his beard. Comparing that one with the processions of today, well... Rgds
I always assumed that Lauda was early on nicknamed the Rat because of his prominent teeth. Later on, an orthodontist did some work on his dentition, but in his youth, Nikki had what you call in France "les dents qui courraient après la fourchette".
Well done, William. The usual, and slightly more familiar expression is: "les dents qui courent après le bifteck". However, all these expressions tend to really disappear these days. Most young people use no more than 250 words to communicate. Movie actors do not articulate anymore. Without even considering the formal langage itself, what was once the very flowery common langage of the streets is all but forgotten by the younger generations; they do not find any pleasure at all in the famous movie dialogues of Michel Audiard... (Not to say anything about History, of course!) Rgds
[Onestopstrategy.com] Another Health setback for Lauda. Osterreich paper reports F1 legend Niki Lauda is currently receiving kidney dialysis treatment at a private clinic in Switzerland.
Niki Lauda dead: F1 legend passes away aged 70 after undergoing kidney dialysis https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formula-1/breaking-niki-lauda-dead-f1-16175419
