Vin Diesel "prays" Paul Walker will be proud of 'Fast and Furious 8'.

Paul Walker and Vin Diesel (c) Instagram

Paul Walker and Vin Diesel (c) Instagram

The 49-year-old actor - who plays the role of Dominic Toretto in the motoring franchise - has admitted it was an "arduous road" producing the upcoming project, but his late co-star gave him "strength" to carry on because he promised him before he died in a fiery car accident in 2013 that he would make a follow-up to the seventh installment.

Alongside a picture of the muscular star with his best friend - who was cast as the American policeman who becomes Vin's on-screen partner and motoring fanatic Brian O'Connor - at an awards ceremony, which was posted to his Instagram account, he wrote: "The arduous road to production, the challenging task of filming this latest chapter. The record breaking trailer debut and the shocked world at what the dark road implied... you Pablo have given me strength... purpose and resolve. I promised you we would make something you would be proud of and I pray that we have... miss you. Family above everything! #happytorettotuesday (sic)."

And Vin - whose real name is Mark Sinclair - has revealed he is still struggling to come to terms with the death of Paul, who passed away at the age of 40.

Speaking previously, he said: "It was a lot of tissues. It was a hard morning for me yesterday [on the anniversary of Paul's death] because I was here. But the irony is the whole cast reached out and his daughter, Meadow, reached out and all that stuff helps you get through it. We've felt the loss. The last three years have been some of the hardest of my life because of losing my brother like that."