March Engineering was a Formula One constructor from Britain.
1970s
March Engineering began operations in 1969. Its four founders were Max Mosley, Alan Rees, Graham Coaker and Robin Herd. They each had a specific area of expertise: Mosley looked after the commercial side, Herd was the designer, Rees managed the racing team and Coaker oversaw production at the factory.
The company first built a Formula 3 car in 1969, then went into F1 in 1970, supplying its 701 chassis to Tyrrell for Jackie Stewart. In addition the factory ran two team cars for Jo Siffert and Chris Amon sponsored by STP. A third car, entered by Mario Andretti, appeared on several occasions. Stewart gave the March chassis its first F1 victory in the 1970 Spanish Grand Prix.
For 1971 March Engineering came up with the remarkable 711 chassis, which had a circular front wing [1]. The car took no wins, but Ronnie Peterson finished second on four occasions, ending runner up in the World Championship.
![[1]](http://www.rrcv.at/images/F1%20March711.JPG){kind=link}
The 1972 season was not a great success. Peterson and Niki Lauda drove the factory cars while Frank Williams ran Henri Pescarolo and Carlos Pace. The only notable result was Peterson's third place in Germany.
1973 was the low-point for March in Formula 1. Without STP money the March factory team was struggling, running an unsponsored car for Jean-Pierre Jarier, while Lord Hesketh bought a car for James Hunt to race. Jarrier’s replacement by Roger Williamson ended with Williamson’s fatal accident in Holland.
In 1974 the factory team ran Hans Joachim Stuck in a Jagermeister-sponsored car and Vittorio Brambilla in a Beta-sponsored car. In 1975 Brambilla continued, amazing everyone with his victory in Austria. The second car was run by Lella Lombardi, the only woman to score a Championship point in F1.
In 1976 Peterson returned to score the team's third and last win at Monza. That year he scored only one other point.
At the end of the 1977 season the F1 team's assets were sold to ATS and Mosley left the company to concentrate on FOCA matters.
1980s
In 1981 March made a half-hearted and ill-financed effort to return to F1. The car was driven initially by Eliseo Salazar but he soon quit for Derek Daly to take over.
The new Formula 3000 in 1985 gave March much more success with Christian Danner being the first champion in a March chassis. He was followed in 1986 by Ivan Capelli and in 1987 by Stefano Modena.
March began a new Formula 1 program in 1987 with the Ford-engined 871 which was sponsored by Japanese real estate company Leyton House and driven by Ivan Capelli. In August 1987 Adrian Newey came to March and designed the March-Judd 881 for Capelli and Mauricio Gugelmin to drive. The car was a real success, scoring 21 points in 1988.
1990s
But March itself had financial trouble and in June 1989, Leyton House boss Akira Akagi bought the March F1 and F3000 teams.
The team raced as Leyton House Racing in 1990 and 1991, resuming the name March for the 1992 season. Success however never came and the operation closed down at the end of 1992.
In brief
Competed in: 175 Grand Prix as March Engineering, and 32 Grand Prix as Leyton House
Victories: 3
Pole Positions: 4
Fastest Laps: 7
Complete Formula One results
(Note: grands prix in bold denote points scoring races.)