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It's August 1, 1976 at a racetrack in West Germany. Thousands of racing fans have flocked to watch the German Grand Prix, the 10th race in this year's Formula One season.

While they wait for the event to begin, the spectator's eyes are all glued to the blood-red Ferrari, positioned second on the starting grid.

Inside the cockpit, Nikki Lauda, the world's most famous F1 driver, flexes his glove fingers and tries to block out the roar of the crowd.

The 27-year-old Austrian has quietly dominated this year's racing season, winning five out of the last nine Grand Prix's.

He's expected to win again today, although some predict that James Hunt, the young British driver, who's been Nikki's main challenger this year, could cause an unlikely upset.

Nikki hardly blinks as he waits for the starter signal.

Flag drops and the drivers screech out of the grid in a cloud of engine exhaust and burning rubber.

Nikki floors the accelerate and takes off down the straight, a blur of red paint and black tires.

When the left-hand bend appears up ahead, Nikki downshifts and accelerates into the turn at over a hundred miles per hour.

But as he does, his rear suspension fails. His car snaps aggressively to the right, his wheels skid across the tarmac.

And he slams into the fence with a sickening crunch. The Ferrari van courts grooves back out into the middle of the track, directly into the path of the other vehicles.

One driver carines straight into Nikki's corner, which immediately bursts into flames.

Within seconds, fire has engulfed the cockpit, licking up under Nikki's helmet and burning him alive.

Nikki wrestles frantically with the seatbelt, but he can't loosen the straps. And as the intolerable heat intensifies, an accurate black smoke fills his lungs.

Nikki realizes that there's no escape, and that this was his last race.

Nikki loud will survive this crash, but only just. His burns will partially destroy half his face, and he will undergo reconstructive surgery to ensure that he still has working eyelids.

He'll need them to resume racing as soon as possible. But while Nikki is recovering from his injuries, his rival James Hunt will seize the opportunity to pull ahead in the Formula One rankings, setting the stage for a dramatic showdown between the two adversaries at the Tokyo Grand Prix, less than three months after Nikki loud as near fatal accident on August 1, 1976.

Hi, I'm David Brown, the host of Wonder Woman's Podcast Business Wars. And in our new season, two of the world's leading hotel brands, Hilton and Marriott, stare down family drama and financial disasters.

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From Noiser and Airship, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is History Daily.

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