THE HOPES OF Austrian racing fans now rest on Andreas Nikolaus Lauda, the youngest driver in Grand Prix racing today: This cheerful Viennese, who looks like a mischievous schoolboy, was 23 on Feb. 22, 1972, and it is early to have such a responsibility. But after Helmut Marko's accident in the French Grand Prix, Niki is the only Austrian with a Formula 1 drive. The sport has reached such a level of importance in the country which produced Jochen Rindt that Niki has become a national hero virtually over night. His main prablem is a chronic lack of sponsorship.

Niki has been raising money in various ways fram the time he was 15. He will always take a chance on making a phone call or knocking on people's doors, or answering advertisements - whatever it takes, in fact, to work himself higher up the ladder to the top of motor racing. Sometimes it comes off, sometimes not, but he knows not only how to talk himself into a loan but also how to talk himself out of a corner. In other words, he has a quick brain and lots of charm.

From his schooldays, Niki had only one aim, and that was to drive cars. "1 liked geography, Latin 1 leamed but hated. There was only one interest - cars, all the time. My cousin taught me to drive; my grandparents have a big area of land about an hours drive fram Vienna near the Rax mountains. 1 started to drive there when 1 was about ten."

Niki's father is a shareholder in an important paper-making factory and Niki drove his car around the factory yards until he was 15, old enough to get a license. "1 bought a Volkswagen very cheaply when 1 finally got my license. My family never let me have a lot of money because they did not, approve of my driving so early.

So 1 worked in the paper factory during the holidays to raise enough to buy - this 1949 Volkswagen for about E55.

An incident which happened in his school days shows Niki's character to be not far removed from Jochen Rindts. Jochen was also a rebellious schoolboy as well as a shrewd businessman with a comfortably wealthy background. "1 had a good friend whose father had a Cooper S as a road car," Niki, recalls, "My friend had, no driving license but one Sunday he carne along and said his father had gone away somewhere and why didn't we take the Cooper for run. 1 drove like hell through Vienna, fast all the time, and out into the hills on the outskirts of the city. It was November and very cold. 1 came to this bridge and there was ice on it, so 1 crashed the car completely." Niki and his friend worked - out that the only possibility was for Niki to buy the car, from his friend's father at the market price so he would never know about the crash.

"I went to my grandmother and said, "I crashed a car last night and if you can't lend me the money 1 will have to go to prison." My grandmother started shivering at the thought - went to the bank and borrowed the money for me. 1 also had to sell - my Volkswagen to pay the full price, for the crashed car, plus the repairs."

He later changed that car for a second-hand Mini Cooper which had been raced successfully. The man who sold it to him; having given his parents a looking-over, agreed to sell it on the installment plan as he was sure Niki's parents would make up any deficit. As Niki says, little did he know that his parents would never give him any money for racing.

Niki started competing in hillclimbs in this car and when he won the second event he entered he couldn't keep his secret any longer. There was a family showdown, Niki positively refused to stop racing and went on to win all the hillclimbs he entered.

After that he sold the Mirii Cooper to buy a Porsche 911S and again, knowing his parents' affiuence, the seller let him have it on a drive-now-pay-later plan. The car was very good and Niki won every race he entered although there was tough opposition. At the end of the 1968 season when he sold the car he paid his grandmother back some of her "investment."