Authentic Ferrari 312T2 F1 Car Damaged on Set of Rush

Ron Howard is winding down production on his next film Rush that tells the story of Nikki Lauda's 1976 Formula 1 season. We first reported on the film when it was in preproduction in September and showed some behind the scenes footage from the Nürburgring.

The film has been using a mixture of real cars and replicas for filming, and it appears that one of the most expensive and important cars has taken some damage. 

The Ferrari 312 T2Ferrari 312 T2Italy, 1976 > 19771 photo
that Lauda drove during a portion of the season was damaged during the movie's production. This was not a replica. This car was going to compete in the Monaco Historics on May 5 and 6. Granted, the damage does not appear too severe - perhaps just a stint into the grass, but when you are talking about a very rare Formula 1 car. Only five of them were built. 

This phot was taken by Sean Edwards who is a professional racing drive and worked as a stunt driver for the film. His father Guy Edwards was one of the drivers who came to Lauda's aid during his crash at the Nürburgring. Sean even drove as his father in several scenes in the film. 

Lauda drove the 312 T and 312 T2 during the 1976 season. The 312 T had been used in 1974 and 1975, but Lauda was able to continue to drive it in 1976. He won the first two grand prixs of the season at Interlagos and Kyalami, and his teammate Clay Regazzoni won the third race at Long Beach. 

The 312 T2 was a modified version of the 312 T with large NACA ducts added to both sides of the cockpit. It was also 42mm longer than the 312T. It came is second at its first grand prix at Jarama in Spain but won the next two races at Spa and Monaco. Lauda came in third in the Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp, but suffered an engine failure at the next race at Paul Ricard. He also won the grand prix at Brands Hatch. At this point, the season was more than half over, and Lauda had a comfortable points lead. However, Lauda suffered a major crash at the Nürburgring caused by a rear suspension failure resulting in extensive burns to his face. Lauda came back to race just a month over his crash. Ferrari won the constructors' championship in 1976. 

The 312 T2 was modified to the T2B in 1977 and continued its winning performance with Lauda winning the drivers' championship and Ferrari winning the constructors' championship. 

'Rush' set to be released in 2013

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Source: Jalopnik