Editing March Engineering (section)

==1980s==
[[File:March83G.jpg|thumb|left|A March 83G-Chevy driven by David Cowart and Kenper Miller takes part in a 1983 [[IMSA GT Championship|Camel GT]] race at [[Infineon Raceway|Sears Point]].]]In 1981 March made a half-hearted and ill-financed effort to return to F1, building cars that were little more than heavy and insufficiently stiff copies of the Williams FW07 for Mick Ralph and John McDonald's [[RAM Racing]]. The car was driven initially by [[Eliseo Salazar]], but he soon quit for [[Derek Daly]] to take over. The team acquired a major sponsorship deal from Rothmans in 1982, but the money came too late for Herd or [[Adrian Reynard]] (who was working as chief engineer) to improve the performance of the cars. In 1983, McDonald started building his own cars and March was left outside F1 once more. The RAM-March effort was at armslength from March proper, with the cars being built at a separate factory and the only real link with March being [[Robin Herd]].
[[File:Paris - Bonhams 2016 - March 85B Formule 3000 - 1985 - 002.jpg|thumb|left|March 85B Formula 3000]]

During this phase, March Engines (a separate company within the group) undertook a number of bespoke customer projects - a highly modified [[BMW M1]] (which was highly unsuccessful but provided some input into the later GTP/Group C cars) and an equally unsuccessful Indycar (the Orbitor) based around the 792 chassis.

[[File:March 821 London Motorsports Show 2006.jpg|thumb|right|The March 821 from the {{F1|1982}} season on display.]]
[[File:Indy500winningcar1983.JPG|thumb|1983 March 83C Indy 500 winning chassis (driven by [[Tom Sneva]])]]
March's attention in the early 1980s was mainly split between F2 and breaking into the [[Indy car]] market. It is a curious irony that although March's FW07 copy bombed in Formula One, when developed into the 81C Indycar it was instantly successful (largely down to [[George Bignotti]]'s direct involvement in developing the car). [[Cosworth]]-powered Marches won the [[Indianapolis 500]] five straight times between [[1983 Indianapolis 500|1983]] and [[1987 Indianapolis 500|1987]]. The March 86C actually won the race twice in a row, [[1986 Indianapolis 500|1986]]-[[1987 Indianapolis 500|1987]]. On the other hand, when Williams directly licensed the FW07 design to [[Bobby Hillin]], the resultant Longhorn cars were a failure.
[[File:Indy500winningcar1984.JPG|thumb|1984 March 84C Indy 500 winner of [[Rick Mears]]]]
An important sideline appeared when [[Group C]] and [[International Motor Sports Association|IMSA]] GTP racing started; March built a line of sports-prototypes descended from the unsuccessful BMW M1C, which, fitted with [[Porsche]] or [[Chevrolet]] engines, enjoyed considerable success in America (but less in Europe). The biggest success for March in sportscar racing was victory in the 1984 [[24 Hours of Daytona]]. A works [[BMW]] deal in IMSA suffered from engine problems but the cars were intermittently very fast.

In 1982, [[Corrado Fabi]] took March's last Formula Two title; the formula was being increasingly dominated by the works [[Ralt]]-[[Honda]]s. March abandoned the [[Formula Three]] market at the end of the 1981 season; they had enjoyed periods of dominance in the category, but this had faded in favour of [[Ralt]], though. The margins on an F3 car were low and the factory could be more productively occupied building F2s and Indycars.

[[File:Rahal1986Car.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The [[Truesports]] March 86C driven by [[Bobby Rahal]] to the 1986 Indy 500 and CART championships]]

The new [[Formula 3000]] in 1985 gave March much more success for the first few years of the formula, 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]]. These early F3000s were little more than developments of the 842 F2 car (as were the Japanese F2 cars in 1985-86). In 1986, the [[March 86G|86G]] was modified into the [[BMW GTP]] by BMW North America for use in the [[IMSA GT Championship]], but saw little success. Meanwhile, March became by far the dominant marque in Indycar racing, reaching the point where 30 out of 33 starters in the [[Indianapolis 500]] were Marches. Into the late 1980s, the F3000 programme started to be eclipsed by [[Lola Cars|Lola]] and [[Ralt]], and was virtually obliterated by [[Reynard Motorsport]]'s entry to the market.

[[File:Ivan Capelli 1988 Canada.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ivan Capelli]] driving a [[March 881]] at the [[1988 Canadian Grand Prix]].]]

March began a new Formula One program in 1987 with the [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]]-engined 871 which was sponsored by Japanese real estate company [[Leyton House]] and driven by Ivan Capelli, who had brought his F3000 sponsor to the team (in fact, for the first race an F3000/F1 hybrid called the 87P had to be used as the 871 was not ready). In August 1987, [[Adrian Newey]] came to March F1 and designed the March-Judd 881 for Capelli and [[Maurício Gugelmin]] to drive. The car was a real success, scoring 22 points in 1988, including a second place at the [[1988 Portuguese Grand Prix]]. It was the only normally aspirated car to lead a race in anger (Nigel Mansell in the Willams Judd had led away at the Brazilian Grand Prix after inheriting pole position - although was second by the first corner)<ref>{{Citation|last=MrViniciusf11995|title=gp do brasil 1988 completo (Brazilian Grand Prix 1988 Complete)|date=2012-11-21|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LlSLBqAiP0| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140501044131/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LlSLBqAiP0| archive-date=2014-05-01 | url-status=dead|access-date=2016-03-20}}</ref>  - albeit briefly - during the season when Capelli passed the all-powerful [[McLaren MP4/4|McLaren]]-[[Honda F1|Honda]] turbo of [[Alain Prost]] on lap 16 during the [[1988 Japanese Grand Prix|Japanese Grand Prix]] (Prost missed a gear out of the chicane which allowed Capelli to lead over the line. Honda power told though as the [[Judd (engine)#CV|Judd]] [[V8 engine|V8]] could not match it for straight line speed). This was the first time since {{f1|1983}} that a naturally-aspirated powered car had led a Grand Prix. The aerodynamics and ultra-slim monocoque of the 881 were copied by most of the grid in 1989 and the car launched Newey as a superstar designer.

In April 1987, March went public. Herd remained the biggest shareholder, and a block of shares was made over to key employees who had stayed with the company through thick and thin. March Group plc was initially valued at £14.5 million. But things were not going well in America, and when the dollar plunged against the pound that market dried up. In other formulae, too, March was no longer flavour of the month. Taken out of the hands of the racers, the company went downhill. The situation was resolved in early 1989 when Akira Akagi's Leyton House bought March Racing, including both the F1 operation and F3000 production facilities, leaving Herd to embark on other ventures.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/march-2010/74/porridge-with-robin-herd|date=March 2010|title=Porridge with... Robin Herd|website=[[Motorsport Magazine]]|access-date=18 August 2021|author=Simon Taylor}}</ref>