March 822

March 822 of the works team from 1982 (Christian Danner)

The March 822 was a monoposto from the British racing car manufacturer March Engineering , which was designed in 1982 according to the Formula 2 regulations . In 1982 and 1983, numerous drivers took part in the Formula 2 European Championship and the Japanese Formula 2 Championship with him. 1982 was Corrado Fabi 2 European champion Formula with a March 822, Satoru Nakajima won with him in the same year the Japanese championship.

construction

The March 822 was developed in autumn 1981. The responsible designer was Ralph Bellamy . The March 822 was not a new design, but a further development of the previous March 812 . The 822 had a new monocoque that was narrower than that of the 821. The rear suspension was redesigned and aerodynamics had been improved.
In the European championship races, the cars were usually powered by BMW engines from different tuners; only in one case an 822 with a four-cylinder Hart engine appeared . In Japan there were also copies with Honda and Toyota engines.

March-merzario 282

A modification of the March 822 was the March-Merzario 282 , which appeared in Italy in 1982. The Italian team Merzario had designed their own Formula 2 cars until 1981, which were unsuccessful. For the 1982 season, Arturo Merzario's racing team began to revise March 822 chassis that had been taken over from the factory and to improve it according to their own ideas. They were then given their own model name. Details on the scope of the revision are not known. The cars appeared only this year and exclusively in the Merzario team. Jo Gartner and Richard Dallest each achieved a championship point with them.

production

March made a total of 14 copies of the 822; 13 vehicles were built in 1982, and another one in the following year. The vast majority of vehicles were sold to independent customer teams. In 1982 a new 822 without an engine was £ 19,000.

Races

Formula 2 European Championship 1982

In the 1982 European Championship, the March 822 was the most widespread new Formula 2 car.

March Engineering ran a factory team led by Peter Mackintosh (last time this year) that used a factory-supported BMW engine. With Corrado Fabi, Johnny Cecotto and Christian Danner, it fielded three drivers who took part in all championship races. Fabi's car was looked after by Ralph Bellamy, Cecotto's 822 by Adrian Newey . Fabi won five races, Cecotto three; both took several second places and achieved further results in the points. After the last race both drivers were tied on points; Due to a peculiarity in the regulations, however, only the best nine results were counted for the championship ranking (so-called discarded results), so that Cecotto was ultimately one point less than Fabi. Fabi was then European champion, Cecotto runner-up. Danner didn't win a race; his best result was fourth place at the Gran Premio dell'Adriatico Gran Premio dell'Adriatico . The works team considered the 822 to be a reliable car: Fabi retired four times, Cecotto only once due to technical reasons.

The Italian Merzario team took over three 822 copies, which were subsequently modified.

The Swiss team Horag Racing by Markus Hotz put a one, the 822 one of Heini Mader Racing Components used tuned BMW engine. The regular driver was Mike Thackwell , who finished third in two races in the middle of the season. This made Horag the most successful March customer team this year. For the last race the car was passed on to Fredy Schnarwiler , who was not included in the ranking.

In the second half of the season, the British team Trundle Racing reported an 822 for the American racing driver Cliff Hansen, who contested seven races but scored no championship points. Hansen's best result was ninth place at Mantorp Park Trofén in Sweden.

Formula 2 European Championship 1983

In the 1983 season , March Engineering no longer had its own factory team. The independent Onyx Racing team had taken over the material from the works team. Onyx received customer vehicles, but was preferred to other customers at the factory, so that some sources speak of a quasi-factory team here. In 1983 Onyx used newly designed March 832 models.

This year there was only one use of a March 822: The Irish team Derek McMahon Racing registered an 822 with a Hart engine for Derek Daly for the Donington "50,000" in Donington Park . Daly finished the race in ninth place.

Japanese Formula 2 Championship

In the Japanese Formula 2 championship, much older vehicles were used than in the European series. Few teams were financially able to buy new vehicles. Satoru Nakajima, who won the championship in a March 821 in 1981, competed in the first run of the 1982 season with the 821 before switching to an 822 in April 1982. His car, which was used by Team I&I Racing Development (registration name: John Player Special Team Ikuzawa), had a six-cylinder engine from Honda. Nakajima won the Japanese championship by a clear margin over Kazuyoshi Hoshino , who also fielded an 822 - in this case with a BMW engine - in the second half of the season.

In 1983, several March 822 models appeared on smaller teams. They mainly used locally tuned BMW engines; Hitoshi Ogawa also drove an 822 with a Toyota engine.

In 1984, a March 822 no longer appeared in Japan.

Results: Formula 2 European Championship

season	team	driver	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	Points
1982
	United Kingdom March Racing	Italy C. Fabi	DNF	3	20th	2	1	1	DNF	5	1	1	DNF	DNF	1	57
		Venezuela J. Cecotto	DNF	4th	1	3	2	DNF	1	2	6th	2	1	3	15th	56 (57)
		Germany C. Danner	DNF	DNF	DNF	9	DNF	13	DNF	9	DNF	7th	5	6th	4th	6th
	Switzerland Horag Racing	New Zealand M. Thackwell	DNF			DNF	8th	9	3	3	10	DNF				8th
		Sweden S. Dickens		DNF												0
		Germany H. Hagenbauer									DNF					0
		Sweden E. Elgh											DNF			0
	Switzerland Formula racing club	Switzerland F. Schnarwiler													NC	0
	United Kingdom Trundle Racing	United States C. Hansen							DNF	DNF	17th	15th	9	13	DNF	0
1983
1983	Ireland Derek McMahon Racing	Ireland D. Daly								9						0

literature

David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7
Mike Lawrence: March, The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend , MRP, Orpington 2001, ISBN 1-899870-54-7 .
Eberhard Reuß, Ferdi Kräling: Formula 2. The story from 1964 to 1984 , Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2014, ISBN 978-3-7688-3865-8 .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Mike Lawrence: March, The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend , MRP, Orpington 2001, ISBN 1-899870-54-7 , p. 154.
^ David Hodges: Rennwagen from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 166.
^ David Hodges: Rennwagen from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 190.
↑ Mike Lawrence: March, The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend , MRP, Orpington 2001, ISBN 1-899870-54-7 , p. 260.
↑ Eberhard Reuß, Ferdi Kräling: Formula 2. The story from 1964 to 1984, Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2014, ISBN 978-3-7688-3865-8 , p. 189.

[March_154-1] Mike Lawrence: March, The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend , MRP, Orpington 2001, ISBN 1-899870-54-7 , p. 154.

[Hodges_166-2] David Hodges: Rennwagen from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 166.

[3] David Hodges: Rennwagen from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 190.

[4] Mike Lawrence: March, The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend , MRP, Orpington 2001, ISBN 1-899870-54-7 , p. 260.

[5] Eberhard Reuß, Ferdi Kräling: Formula 2. The story from 1964 to 1984, Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2014, ISBN 978-3-7688-3865-8 , p. 189.