Goodwood Members’ Meeting to celebrate Niki Lauda
Three-time Formula 1 World Champion Niki Lauda will be celebrated with a special on-track demonstration at the 81st Members’ Meeting at Goodwood.
This year marks 50 years since his first Grand Prix win at the 1974 Grand Prix, 40 years since the last of his three World Championships and 75 years since his birth (February 22nd) making it the perfect time to honour his outstanding legacy.
Lauda’s Formula 1 career spanned from 1971-85 - including a brief three year retirement from 1979-1982 - and he was known to be one of the most intelligent drivers on the grid with an encyclopedic knowledge of an F1 car. He recovered and came back in the same season from a horrifying, near-fatal crash at the Nurburgring in 1976 to challenge Britain’s James Hunt in what was one of motorsport’s most fierce rivalries. It was later dramatised in the Ron Howard film, Rush.
He came back to the world of Formula 1 in an advisory role with Ferrari, before becoming team principal at Jaguar and then finally taking the role as Non-Executive Chairman of Mercedes. Lauda is credited with persuading Lewis Hamilton to join the Silver Arrows, where he won six of his seven world titles.
His final win came at the 1985 Dutch Grand Prix where he beat podium finishers Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna in his McLaren MP4/2B. It is this very car that will come to Goodwood for an on-track moment to honour the Austrian.
The Duke of Richmond said: “It’s a privilege to be honouring Niki Lauda at this year’s Members’ Meeting and Festival of Speed. The word ‘Icon’ is overused, but Niki was certainly that. He achieved incredible success in everything he did, from driving to team management, and even running an airline, and always on his own terms. It was a pleasure to welcome him to Goodwood, including the final time in 2017, when he joined us for our tribute to his friend Bernie Ecclestone. He was straight talking and irreverent, but also intelligent, charming and funny, and is much-missed by all who knew him. This year’s special moments will pay tribute to his outstanding racing career and celebrate his influence and enduring legacy across the world of motorsport.”
Further celebrations for Niki Lauda will also take place at the Festival of Speed this summer with several of the cars he drove during his career taking on the famous Goodwood Hill.
The 81st Members’ Meeting will take place on Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th April 2024.
words: Mike Booth
pictures: Goodwood