If you thought Senna was the only movie centering on the life of a Formula 1 legend being released in recent times, think again. A new biopic about Austrian driver Niki Lauda and his epic battle--which he ultimately lost--with British driver James Hunt in the 1976 Formula 1 World Championship has been filming for about a year and has just been announced for release on September 20, 2013.

The new movie, directed by Hollywood legend Ron Howard and starring Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth as Hunt and Spanish-born German actor Daniel Brühl as Lauda, is called Rush and it will take us to locations all over Europe, including the notorious Nürburgring where much of the action takes place.

As mentioned, the movie centers on Lauda’s performance in the 1976 Formula 1 World Championship. This was the year where he attempted to boycott the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring due to its lack of safety.

The race still went on and Lauda eventually crashed on the second lap, with his Ferrari bursting into flames and partially burning its trapped driver. You can see the filming of this scene in our previous video post.

Lauda returned to race only six weeks (two races) later, but ultimately lost the championship in the final race in Japan to McLaren’s James Hunt. Despite leading the points table, Lauda decided to retire the race due to heavy rainfall and his own safety concerns, essentially handing the title over to Hunt who successfully completed and won the Championship.

The life story of three-times Formula 1 World Champion Niki Lauda is well worth the read, from the days where he needed to finance his own participation in motorsports with bank loans right up until his later years in the commercial airline business.