March 781

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A March 782 Formula 2 from 1978; the 781 had an almost identical body

The March 781 was a Formula 1 racing car that was developed by March Engineering in 1978 for exclusive use in the Aurora AFX Formula 1 series .

Development history

March had with the expiration of the Formula 1 season in 1977 his racing activities set in the Formula 1 World Championship to focus on the profitable construction of single-seater to focus -Rennfahrzeugen in the smaller classes. Nevertheless, there was a March Formula 1 racing car in 1978; the 781st The Aurora AFX Formula 1 series was the successor to the British Formula 5000 championship, which was driven out with Formula 1 vehicles. Developed for the first year of its existence March two chassis based on the March 771 had, which he described in the analogy of the Formula 1 Typology 781. The car the technology of its predecessor, including the three-liter Cosworth - the V8 engine of the type DFV. The body was almost identical to the March 782 , which the team had developed for Formula 2 in 1978.

Racing history

Both cars were acquired by RAM Racing and prepared for the Aurora series in 1978 . The cars were driven in 1978 by Guy Edwards and his compatriot Bruce Allison . The team was able to record three race victories with the vehicle. Guy Edwards won the eighth and eleventh races, the Oulton Park Formula 1 Trophy and the Thruxton Radio Victory Trophy . Bruce Allison won the Dave Lee Travis Trophy at Mallory Park . In the final standings of the championship, Edwards and Allion finished fourth and sixth. Two attempts by RAM to compete in a world championship run with the vehicle failed in the run-up to the race due to insufficient financial resources. Patrick Nève should have been behind the wheel at the Belgian Grand Prix and Guy Edwards at the race in Great Britain .

In 1979 the Austrian Gerd Biechteler bought one of the chassis and finished tenth in the season opening race in Zolder . The second vehicle was sold to Valentino Musetti .

literature

  • Mike Lawrence: March. The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend. Revised and expanded edition. Motor Racing Publications, Orpington 2001, ISBN 1-899870-54-7 .

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