Rush reveals the art of F-1

TODAY we will focus on the arts.

Rush

THE editor rang the other night and said: "Your column is dragging down the tone of this section and probably the whole paper. Just for once stop writing about your dissolute travels to car auctions, the amount of free booze you drink and how much your friends spend on cars."

So today we will focus on the arts. We will review a moving picture directed by the critically acclaimed film noir auteur Ron Howard. Ronnie played Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show for eight seasons. Then we will look at two books written by famous authors you've never heard of. Finally, you will get a chance to attend the feature event of the Adelaide Festival of Motoring Arts next month.

The film and books are about the lives and one death and one near death of two of the most intriguing characters in motor sports history, James "the Playboy" Hunt and Niki "the Rat" Lauda. The two were close friends but complete opposites. Describing Hunt in his book, Hunt vs. Lauda, (Amazon $35), Paul Fearnley writes: "He smoked, he drank and some of his training was conducted in a horizontal position in the company of others." Hunt also had a badge on his racing suit saying "SEX the breakfast of champions". In fact before he squeezed into his car on race day, he had a smoke, drank a coffee and vomited. So that's what is wrong with the Australian cricket team!

Lauda was called "the Rat" because of his protruding front teeth. Where Hunt was the hot-blooded playboy, Lauda's other nickname was "the computer" because he was so cool and methodical about his race preparation. Howard's Rush ($175 at Gold Class included a bottle of red wine and two espresso martinis and two tickets because I didn't remember the last half of the movie the first time I saw it) is the story of the 1976 F1 championship, which Hunt won from Lauda by one controversial point.

It's a tale of sibling rivalry between two brothers, each with the ultimate commitment it takes to win in any elite sport. During the season, Lauda crashes, nearly burns to death, is given the last rites but is back six weeks later trying to take the driver's championship from Hunt. But while the film gives an insight into the story with some of the best racing sequences since Grand Prix, it can only touch on the incredible lives of both, including the tragedy of Hunt's death at 45 just as he had sorted out his demons. Roy Calley's The Playboy & The Rat is not the work of a great writer but it's so emotionally revealing that it is often hard to read.

Fearnley's book is really about Hunt's and Lauda's racing careers and has magnificent, and often quite intimate, photos. You'll be surprised at how many Australians starred in the real story. Alan Jones, the forgotten but wonderful Warwick Brown, Larry Perkins, Brian Muir, and the Australian au pair who really looked after Hunt when he was 12! Of course, in the movie, Melbourne's Chris Hemsworth plays Hunt and Sydney's Rusty Crowe was meant to play Richard Burton (don't ask, see the movie).

* Finally, I hope you all email or ring the Sporting Car Club of South Australia (08 8373 4899 / [e-mail]) to book your free tickets for The Weekend Australian's first annual motoring lecture and BBQ on November 6 with yours truly as guest speaker. My employer has gone overboard because this rival to Top Gear on Tour is in our founder's hometown. All our regulars will be there, like the world's greatest and oldest BMW mechanic Michael McMichael and Brabham driver Ken Messenger. See you there.