Lauda's 1976 German GP helmet

[clive_candy]

Spotted an item in the current Motor Sport Magazine about the helmet Lauda was wearing in the famous crash at the Nurburgring in 1976 being up for auction in the States with an estimate of £40-50k.

Seemed conservative I thought and went to the Bonhams site to check what it had actually made only to discover it had been withdrawn from the sale. Intrigued, I did a little search and found this:

https://agvsport.com/blog/mystery-of-niki-lauda-ag...

[clive_candy]

Roofless Toothless said:

That stuff about helmet 'roll-off' reminds me of a meeting I once attended at Buckmore Park with my kids when they were doing Cadets.

The scrutineer decided to have a close look at all the helmets the Cadets were wearing, as it was suspected that some dads were buying helmets that were too large, on the assumption that the kids would 'grow into them'. This is one thing with school blazers, but quite another, of course, with crash helmets.

The technique he would employ was to stand the helmeted child in front of him, grab the helmet with two hands under the chin and the rear, and elevate it about a foot into the air, with the struggling kid still inside and kicking out. If he didn't fall out, the helmet passed the test.

I like it!