…gives up and helps him to win the race.
It is a 80’s or 90’s movie, probably direct to video. There is a fatal accident in a sort of Indy racing team during a test run. In order to substitute the pilot, the team hires a former genius mechanic that wants to try his luck on the wheel. His teammate immediately challenges him creating a big rivalry amongst them. The former mechanic is not really that good an often commits mistakes while switching gears, which lead to no great results on the track. I don’t remember much more, but in the end the mechanic prefers to stand down as a pilot and help his team mate by acting as a mechanic (he finds out a different mixture in the fuel can give him 10+ hp), which helps him win the race against a French pilot from another team.
Checkered Flag (1990) TV movie?
“Race car driver Mike Reardon and mechanic Tommy Trehearn are the best of friends whose friendship is damaged, however, when Reardon’s girlfriend Chris ends up falling for Trehearn. Years later, Trehearn and Chris are married with children and move to Arizona when Trehearn is selected to be a mechanic for a new racing team, of which Reardon also happens to be a part.”
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xt69ue
https://irememberthismovie.com/80s-or-90s-movie-about-a-former-car-mechanic-that-tries-his-luck-as-a-race-pilot-and-finds-a-great-rivalry-in-his-teammate
Thanks!