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LONDON, England - What's faster than Rudolph, Santa Claus' red-nosed reindeer, to drop early Christmas gifts? A Formula 1 car of course!
Three-times champion Niki Lauda's first F1 car made a pit-stop in London to deliver Christmas presents to the youngsters at Richard House, London's first hospice for children', at their residential unit at St Joseph's Hospice in Hackney.
The car, to be auctioned as part of a Coys auction, will probably sell for the equivalent of R8.6-million.
The children's residential unit at Richard House is currently at St Joseph's Hospice in Hackney, an adult hospice, while the children's unit undergoes a rebuild.
SPECIAL TREAT
Elaine Reid, senior nurse at Richard House, said: "It was exciting to have the car at the hospice for the children to see and enjoy. It's exhilarating that it was driven by an F1 legend (Lauda).
After visiting Hackney, the car made its way to the permanent Richard House site in Beckton, as the star attraction at the start of a young adults’ Games Evening on Nov 27.
Chris Routledge, MD of the international auction house, said: "We're aware of the fantastic work that Richard House, the first hospice for children in London, is doing for young people with life-limiting conditions.
"We also know how much interest there is in F1 among young people and we thought it would be a Christmas treat for some of the children to see the car before it was sold and have their picture taken with it."
LAUDA AT THE START
This iconic former Grand Prix March from the "Golden Era" was built in 1971 for Ronnie Peterson who used it as his initial works team car at Kylami, Monaco and the memorable Zandfort race.
It became his spare car after he took over the new 711 -6 chassis at the German GP of that year. It was at this time that the car became the career opener for Niki Lauda in 1971 when he started at Peterson's team as the second works driver.
