March 761

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The March 761 was a Formula One racing car designed by Robin Herd of March Engineering for the 1976 season which saw continued use in 1977. The 761 was not a new design, in fact the initial three cars were built up from the 751s which survived the 1975 season. Ronnie Peterson qualified on pole at the Dutch Grand Prix, and set fastest lap at, and won, the Italian Grand Prix. In 1976, Ronnie Peterson was unhappy with the uncompetitive Lotus 77, and returned to March for whom he scored the team's second and last win at Monza. The 761 was fast but fragile and by this point the F1 effort was being run on a shoestring with a two-car 'works' effort featuring Peterson and Hans-Joachim Stuck, the cars tending to turn up in different liveries as race-by-race sponsorship deals were signed, and a 'B-team' entered under the March Engines banner for paying drivers Lella Lombardi and Arturo Merzario. By now the F1 effort as a whole was under fairly severe pressure from BMW, which wanted Robin Herd to concentrate entirely on the works' Formula Two effort, which was starting to be outpaced by French constructors (Martini and Elf) and the new Ralt marque. That year, Peterson scored only one other point before being brokered back into a deal with Tyrrell for 1977. Although he felt most at home at March, it was clear that the team didn't have the resources to do Formula One "properly". For 1977, the works cars were upgraded and referred to as 761B. A token F1 effort with Rothmans sponsorship was run in 1977 for Alex Ribeiro and Ian Scheckter, but nothing worthwhile was achieved.