GRAND PRIX HEROES - MIKA HÄKKINEN

Studio..........: Duke Video
DVD Release Date: 23 Oct 2012
Container.......: mkv
Run Time........: 00:51:59
File Size.......: 309 MB
Video...........: resolution 640x480 (4:3, x264, 700 kbps)
Audio...........: 2.0 channels (aac, 128 kbps)
Audio Language..: English
Frame Rate......: 25,00 fps
Source..........: Digital Download
Sample..........: Yes

Screenshots:
 
http://s3.postimg.org/pk32nrw03/Mika_Hakkinen_Screenshot_1.png 
http://s3.postimg.org/ox45y8z43/Mika_Hakkinen_Screenshot_2.png 
http://s3.postimg.org/xqv2fcm2r/Mika_Hakkinen_Screenshot_3.png

Mika Hakkinen is a Formula One legend – twice World Champion, 
20 times a race winner and regarded by Michael Schumacher as one 
of his toughest competitors. But just how did the ‘Flying Finn’ 
get on the road to becoming a Grand Prix Hero? 

This fascinating programme is filled with rarely seen footage 
showing how a shy teenager blossomed into one of the hottest 
properties in motorsport. Alongside track action, there are 
extensive interviews with the racer as he progresses towards 
Formula One glory. Racing from the age of 5, we take up the story 
in 1987 when the then 19-year-old Hakkinen stepped into a ‘slicks 
and wings’ car for the very first time, testing a FF2000 machine 
at Donington. 

The short test earned him vital sponsorship and a full season in 
the Opel Lotus Euroseries in 1988, where Hakkinen marked himself 
out as the man of the future against such rivals as Heinz-Harald 
Frentzen, Allan McNish and David Brabham. We enjoy action-packed 
racing from Zandvoort, Paul Ricard, Sweden’s Knutstorp and Jerez 
as a determined Hakkinen digs deep to secure the title by a single 
point. 

The action moves to Formula 3, including racing from Monaco and 
Silverstone, where the young Finn attracted the attentions of the 
Grand Prix paddock with a drive from 15th to 5th. This programme 
also includes rare footage of Hakkinen in his only F3000 drive, 
testing for Rene Arnoux at Le Mans. We see the initial apprehension 
replaced by intelligent analysis as the enthused young driver 
returns to the pits after a taste of real power. 

However, there would be no F3000 drive. The Lotus Formula One team 
snapped up Hakkinen for the 1991 Grand Prix season, and we see the 
Silverstone test which secured him the seat. It is the first time 
Hakkinen sat in an F1 car, and he immediately impressed Lotus boss 
Peter Collins, who reveals in an interview his admiration for his 
new charge. 

Of course, it is behind the wheel of a McLaren Formula One car that 
Hakkinen is best remembered, and archive footage from 1993 shows him 
getting his first taste of the MP4/8 alongside first Michael 
Andretti and then the great Ayrton Senna. It is a delight to have 
access to the rarefied atmosphere of a McLaren test in the presence 
of a legend, and a legend-in-the-making – especially when they take 
to the testing track! 

The film concludes with Hakkinen’s installation as McLaren’s number 
1 driver in 1994, the final piece in the jigsaw which would lead to 
race wins and championship glory in 1998 and 1999, and secure 
Hakkinen’s place as a Grand Prix Hero