Niki Lauda was a remarkable man; a very special person. That may sound trite when writing an appreciation in the immediate aftermath of his passing but, in the case of Andreas Nikolaus Lauda, it is perfectly true.
There is barely an aspect of his life that was not significant and occasionally astonishing. From funding his early career by securing a bank loan against an insurance policy on his life; promising sponsorship when he had none; winning the championship in his fourth full season; not only surviving that horrific accident in 1976 but returning to the cockpit six weeks later and taking the championship to the wire -- then winning it for a second time 12 months later; quitting, then returning to claim a third world title by half a point in 1984.