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Niki Lauda (born 22 February 1949) is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver who was the F1 World Champion three times in 1975, 1977 and 1984. Niki Lauda More recently an aviation entrepreneur, Niki Lauda has founded and run two airlines (Lauda Air and Niki). Niki Lauda is currently working as a pundit for German TV during Grand Prix weekends and Niki Lauda acts as non-executive chairman of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team.
Niki Lauda was seriously injured in a crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, during which his Ferrari burst into flames and Niki Lauda came close to death after inhaling hot toxic gases and suffering severe burns.
The 1976 F1 battle between Niki Lauda and James Hunt was dramatized in the 2013 film Rush, where Niki Lauda was portrayed by Daniel Brühl. Niki Lauda himself made a cameo appearance at the end of the film. At this point Niki Lauda said, "When I heard that James Hunt had died age 45 of a heart attack I was not surprised, I was sad." He also said that Hunt was one of his small number of friends, a smaller number of people he respected and the only man Niki Lauda had ever envied. On 1 August 1976 during the second lap at the very fast left kink before Bergwerk, Niki Lauda's Ferrari swerved off the track, hit an embankment, burst into flames and rolled back into the path of Brett Lunger's Surtees-Ford car. Unlike Lunger, Niki Lauda was trapped in the wreckage. Drivers Arturo Merzario, Lunger, Guy Edwards and Harald Ertl arrived at the scene a few moments later, but before they were able to pull Niki Lauda from his car, Niki Lauda suffered severe burns to his head and inhaled hot toxic gases that damaged his lungs and blood. As Niki Lauda was wearing a modified helmet, the foam had compressed and it slid off his head after the accident, leaving his face exposed to the fire.[6] Although Niki Lauda was conscious and able to stand immediately after the accident, Niki Lauda later lapsed into a coma.[7]

Niki Lauda suffered extensive scarring from the burns to his head, losing most of his right ear as well as the hair on the right side of his head, his eyebrows and his eyelids. Niki Lauda chose to limit reconstructive surgery to replacing the eyelids and getting them to work properly. Since the accident Niki Lauda has always worn a cap to cover the scars on his head. Niki Lauda has arranged for sponsors to use the cap for advertising.

With Niki Lauda out of the contest, Carlos Reutemann was taken on as his replacement. Ferrari boycotted the Austrian GP in protest at what they saw as preferential treatment shown towards McLaren driver James Hunt at the Spanish and British GPs.

Surprisingly, Niki Lauda returned to race only six weeks (two races) later, appearing at the Monza press conference with his fresh burns still bandaged. Niki Lauda finished a heroic fourth in the Italian GP, despite being, by his own admission, absolutely petrified. F1 journalist Nigel Roebuck recalls seeing Niki Lauda in the pits, peeling the blood-soaked bandages off his scarred scalp. Niki Lauda also had to wear a specially adapted AGV crash helmet so as to not be in too much discomfort.
The BMW M1 Procar Championship, sometimes known simply as Procar, was a one-make auto racing series created by Jochen Neerpasch,[1] head of BMW Motorsport GmbH, the racing division of automobile manufacturer BMW. The series pitted professional drivers from the Formula One World Championship, World Sportscar Championship, European Touring Car Championship, and other international series against one another using identically modified BMW M1 sports cars.

Billed as an opportunity to see a mix of drivers from various motorsport disciplines,[2] the championship served as support races for various European rounds of the 1979 Formula One season. Austrian Niki Lauda won the inaugural championship. In 1980, the series held some events outside of Formula One schedule, and was won by Brazilian Nelson Piquet. BMW chose not to continue the championship in 1981 to concentrate on their entrance into Formula One. Different Formula One drivers earned spots on the factory team over the season based on their performance in Formula One practice. These included Mario Andretti, Patrick Depailler, Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Alan Jones, Jacques Laffite, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet, Didier Pironi, Clay Regazzoni, and John Watson. Teo Fabi, Tiff Needell, Hans-Georg Bürger and Michael Bleekemolen were invited to drive in the factory BMW cars as well although they were not Formula One drivers at the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niki_Lauda
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M1_Procar_Championship