Austrian aces pay tribute to Dungl

Dungl first became known to the grand prix fraternity when he helped nurse Lauda back to the cockpit in an incredible six weeks following his near-fatal accident at Nurburgring in 1976. He was also involved with a whole host of other Austrian sportsmen through his famous Dungl clinic, among them tennis ace Thomas Muster, who he helped recover and claim world number one status after he suffered a severe knee injury when struck by a car.

Lauda, who had the last rites administered after his Nurburgring shunt, admitted: "He saved my life a couple of times and so it was a very big loss that I felt deeply. He was the kind of guy who never did anything for himself, always for other people. Whatever he told us to do we just did, if we wanted to help ourselves."

Berger received treatment from Dungl after a fiery crash at Imola, and he said: "We have lost someone who helped us a lot in our careers, with both the mental and physical aspects of our situations, and who fathered the success of a lot of Austrian sports people."