Mauro Pane, a stunt driver who filled in for actor Daniel Bruhl in the role of Austrian Formula One racer Niki Lauda in the feature film “Rush” was found dead in northern Italy after his white Renault Megane was discovered submerged in a canal. Pane had been missing for several days before he and an unidentified female passenger were found in the car.
Mauro’s death is the second involving drivers who worked on the film. The first was that of Australian Sean Edwards, who played the role of his father Guy Edwards [who famously pulled Lauda from his flaming crash at Nurburgring], who died in October 2013 when his Porsche – in which he was a passenger – hit a wall in Brisbane after the throttle stuck while he was giving a driving lesson.