Friend on the 5th anniversary of his death

Attila Dogudan: “Niki wouldn’t have wanted it this way”

Attila Dogudan still has Niki's number saved: "I'll never delete it either."(Bild: Roman Zach-Kiesling)

On the fifth anniversary of his death on Monday, Niki Lauda's closest friend Attila Dogudan remembers the highs and lows, meeting him at 3 a.m., saying goodbye and Niki's opinion on life after death: "I would rather say he found Toni Faber. He already believed in God. Just his version of it."

Yes, no, please later, please in an hour, please in two, please tomorrow. In the end, it is impossible to reconstruct how many times we had to postpone our conversation over several days. And if it wasn't about "Niki", his early mentor and best friend, and the fifth anniversary of his death on Whit Monday, Attila Dogudan probably wouldn't have agreed at all. The DO & CO founder already has too much to do, and he hardly ever gives interviews anymore anyway. Not even about his successes, such as the most recent one: a mega-deal with Delta.

The second largest airline in the world, which he now supplies with his finest cuisine alongside over 60 (!) others. Dogudan's empire is now the world market leader (with locations in 20 countries and 14,000 employees). His two sons Attila Jr (40) and Marius (38) are also on board.

Finally, it's Sunday. The 64-year-old is sitting in his office at JFK Airport in New York with a six-hour time difference and has to laugh himself by now when he talks about the daily chaos. And about what Niki would have said again by now.