March 772P car-by-car histories
Jochen Mass in the works March 772P at the Nürburgring in May 1977. Copyright Harmut Schulz 2025. Used with permission.
The March 772P was a Formula 2 car based on the company's Formula Atlantic monocoque which was built after the March 772 customer F2 car proved disappointing in testing.
March had been very successful in Formula 2 since the company's first production monocoque, the 712M in 1971. The March 722 had been a sideways step in 1972, but the following 732 and 742 designs were developments of that successful 712M. Designer Robin Herd then produced a wider monocoque for 1975, the March 752, and this was developed into the 762 and 772 for the next two seasons. Meanwhile, the company's F3 and Formula Atlantic designs retained the narrower monocoque derived from the 712M. Testing in early 1977 showed that the latest 772 was off the pace of the Martinis, Ralts and Chevrons. March's customers, led by the four-car AFMP team, were forced to continue with that design, but March built a slimmer and lighter car for the works team, based on the narrow 77B Formula Atlantic monocoque. This car was named 772P, indicating that it was a prototype for the 1978 F2 car, and was driven by Patrick Neve at the opening Silverstone race and then by the underrated Brazilian Alex Dias Ribeiro at Thruxton four weeks later. Ribeiro took pole position, half a second faster than anyone else. McLaren F1 driver Jochen Mass took it over the next two races and won both. At this point, the AFMP team collapsed, and urgent arrangements had to be made to rescue cars and drivers. When the dust settled, works favourite Bruno Giacomelli was installed in the 772P, which was rebuilt on a new monocoque after it had barely survived nine laps of the Nurburgring in Mass's hands, and he won two of the next three races. For the final race of the season, Ribeiro was put back in 772P-U1, a second 772P was built for Marc Surer to drive, and Giacomelli was a given a brand new 782 prototype.
As March's 1978 designs featured a very new monocoque with pressed aluminium bulkheads, the 772P represented the ultimate form of the narrow-tub design traceable back to the 712M. It was possible to update any of the pre-1975 F2 cars and any of the pre-78 F3 and F/Atlantic cars to this form, so a number of "new" 772P bitzas appeared over the next few seasons. The origins of many of these cars remain unresolved.
There is still much to be discovered about the later movements of these two works 772Ps. If you can add to our understanding of these cars, or have photographs that we can use, please email Allen at allen@oldracingcars.com.
Jochen Mass in the works March 772P at Hockenheim in April 1977. Copyright Harmut Schulz 2025. Used with permission.
New for the works March F2 team in 1977, fitted with a works BMW engine, and raced by Patrick Neve in the opening F2 race at Silverstone, qualifying and finishing third. Then raced by Alex Dias Ribeiro at Thruxton, taking pole position and again finishing third. Jochen Mass took over the drive for Hockenheim and the Nürburgring, winning both races, after which Ribeiro drove it once more at Vallelunga. Bruno Giacomelli, who had been racing a works March 772-Hart, then took over the 772P-BMW for the next six races, winning at Mugello in June. Driven again by Ribeiro at Donington Park in October. Sold to Norman Dickson (Perth, Scotland), fitted with a Hart 420R, and used with great success in libre, Retained by Dickson as a hire car in 1979. To George McMillan (North Berwick, Scotland) for 1980, and fitted with a Swindon BDX engine for libre over the next three seasons. Retained unused in 1983 when McMillan raced a Ralt RT2, and then sold to someone "down south" to use as a GT or Special Saloon. The car reappeared in France a little later, having been acquired by hillclimber Jean-Jacques Lecorre. It was stored briefly in the garage of Alain Prat, and then sold to Jean-François Pelletier (Chinon, France), fitted with a Cosworth BDD, and raced by him from 1984 to 1990. This car was advertised in France in January 2016, with no explanation of where it had been since 1990. By this time it had been restored to Giacomelli's SCAINI livery. It was next seen in 2019, when raced by Pascal Gerbout in Historic F2. This French car was with Pascal Gerbout by 2019.
Driven by: Patrick Neve, Alex Dias Ribeiro, Jochen Mass, Bruno Giacomelli, Norman Dickson, Pascal Witmeur, Gianfranco Brancatelli and George McMillan. First race: Silverstone (R1), 6 Mar 1977. Total of 52 recorded races.
New for Marc Surer to race in the final F2 race of the 1977 season, at Donington Park in October 1977. Then to Patsy McGarrity (Belfast, Northern Ireland) for Irish Formula Atlantic in 1978, using a Fred Smith BDA engine. To Kim Mather (St Helens, Lancashire) for 1979 and raced in F2 and Aurora British F1 that year. Also raced by sponsor David Ward (Hesketh Bank, Lancashire) in libre racing. Crashed heavily by Ward at Aintree in July, and rapidly rebuilt on a 782 or 783 tub for Mather to use for the rest of the season. Mather recalls that the 783 was sold to Jim Evans, but Evans has no recollection of this. The damaged 772P tub is claimed to have been sold to the Seattle area and rebuilt into a car that was later owned in Canada. Neither of these stories has yet been confirmed.
Driven by: Marc Surer, Patsy McGarrity, Kim Mather, David Ward and Mike Wilds. First race: Donington Park (R13), 30 Oct 1977. Total of 34 recorded races.
1977
March was not the only team to think of repurposing a Formula Atlantic March 77B for Formula 2. Bob Gerard and Bill Gubelmann joined forces for 1977 and bought a March 77B which they would convert to Formula 2 specification for Bernard De Dryver to race in European F2 in 1977. This car was entered as a "778" and was, in reality, a 77B, but is included here with the 772Ps as it is more a part of that story than the story of the Formula Atlantic 77Bs.
Bob Gerard and Bill Gubelmann teamed up to buy a March 77B for 1977, and convert it to Formula 2 specification for Bernard De Dryver to race in European F2. The car was entered as a "778", and after a first race using a Hart BDG, used a Mader BMW for the rest of the season. Its last known appearance was at Donington Park on 30 October 1977. The movements of the car over the four seasons are unknown, but it is possible it was the March "77P" sold by ex-Gerard team driver John Bright to John Bowtell at the end of 1978 and used by Bowtell until the end of 1980. The ex-Gerard/Gubelmann 77B was next seen with Alan Harper (Wetherby, West Yorkshire) in hillclimbs in 1982. Then to Basil Pitt (New Milton, Hampshire) for 1983. Subsequent history unknown.
Driven by: Bernard de Dryver, Alan Harper and Basil Pitt. First race: Thruxton (R2), 11 Apr 1977. Total of 12 recorded races.
1978
The two 772Ps were sold off for 1978, one going to Norman Dickson and the other to Patsy McGarrity for Irish Formula Atlantic. The Gerard/Gubelmann car was not seen during 1978, although there is evidence to suggest it was being advertised by John Bright for the latter part of that year, and sold to John Bowtell for 1979.
As the new 1978 range of Marches incorporated a new monocoque design, the 772P represented the ultimate specification for the 1971-1977 narrow monocoque design. Numerous cars were rebuilt to some semblance of this specification, for example Roger Orgee's Formula Atlantic car in 1979 which had started life as a 732, and a car built by talented engineer John Travis, later chief Indycar designer at Lola and Penske. Travis told Kevan McLurg that the car started out as a March 742 that he had acquired from Bobby Howlings, but it is included on this page until its origins are better understood.
Another 772P was built apparently from entirely new parts by Peter Bloore for hillclimber Godfrey Crompton.
Built new by Peter Bloore (Wallingford, Oxfordshire) for customer Godfrey Crompton (Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire), fitted with a 2.2-litre Hart engine and used in hillclimbs in 1978. To Tony Westwood (Cardiff, Wales) for hillclimbs in 1979. Advertised from a Faringdon, Oxfordshire number in Autosport in February 1980 as the "ex Tony Westwood hillclimb car". To Stuart Lawson (Kirkliston, Scotland) and raced as a F2 car in Scottish and north English libre racing in 1980. Run by Terry Gorvel in hillclimbs from 1981 to mid-1985. To Rodney Eyles (Wellington, Somerset) in September 1985. Eyles acquired a Ralt for 1986, and the subsequent history of the March is unknown.
Driven by: Godfrey Crompton, Tony Westwood, Stuart Lawson, Ted Dzierzek, Terry Gorvel and Rodney Eyles. First race: Loton Park, 18 Jun 1978. Total of 25 recorded races.
In September 1978, John Bright (Leicester) advertised a March "77P" which he described as being a F2 rolling chassis and "same as Giacomelli's". Bright had raced in F3 for Bob Gerard in 1977, so there is a distinct possibility that he ws advertising the Gerard/Gubelmann 778 F2 car. He also advertised his 773 Formula 3 car which had been rebuilt on a new monocoque in August 1978. Another possibility, therefore, is that this "77P" had been built using the 773's repaired original monocoque. The car was sold to John Bowtell (Witney, Oxfordshire), who fitted it with a 2-litre BDX bought from Ray Mallock and ran it in libre in 1979. He then fitted it with a 1600cc Swindon BDA and raced it in the British Formula Atlantic series in 1980. He then retired from racing, and advertised the car in January 1981. Subsequent history unknown.
Driven by: John Bowtell. First race: Castle Combe, 16 Apr 1979. Total of 15 recorded races.
1979 and thereafter
By 1979, any 1971-1977 narrow-tub March that was still being used in competition could have been fitted with the latest available bodywork and suspension. As the 772P was the ultimate configuration for such a car, a car described as a "772P" in 1979 could be a 733 or a 742 just as easily as being a genuine 772P. A selection of such cars appears below. As each car's true origins are uncovered, they will be moved to the correct page, so expect this list to be quite fluid.
Nick Overall (East Horsley, Surrey) raced a March "772P" in a libre race at Silverstone on 30 April 1979. Nothing more known.
Driven by: Nick Overall. First race: Silverstone (R2), 30 Apr 1979. Only one recorded race.
John Holmes with his March 772P-Rover turbo and his team, believed to be at a test session at Oulton Park in 1984. Copyright David Tuck 2021. Used with permission.
John Travis (Tarleton/Preston, Lancashire) bought a March 742 from Bobby Howlings in late 1979 or early 1980, trading in his Brabham BT30/BT35. He upgraded the 742 with 772P front suspension, buying parts from John Brannigan, Colin Bennett, and Roger Orgee, changed it from BMW to Ford BDA power, and fitted a 772P chassis plate. He raced this car in libre events in 1980 and 1981. He sold the car in 1982 to John Holmes (Tarporley, Cheshire) who fitted a turbocharged 3.5-litre Rover engine, and used the car in libre racing through the rest of the 1980s and into the early 1990s. He later converted the car to a 2-litre Cosworth engine for Historic F2 and HSCC Derek Bell Trophy events. Still owned by Holmes in June 2020. Sold to Vic Nutter in January 2023.
Driven by: John Travis and John Holmes. First race: Croft, 25 May 1980. Total of 10 recorded races.
"S Billington", presumably Stan Billington (Lancashire), won his class in a March "772P" at a Wallasey MC Sprint at New Brighton in June 1980. Billington had previously shared a Brabham BT30 with David Ward, and Ward had raced 772P-U2 in 1979, but by June 1980 that car had been wrecked and Ward had moved onto a Chevron B29. Nothing more known.
Driven by: Stan Billington. First race: New Brighton, 7 Jun 1980. Only one recorded race.
Alan Newton (Clitheroe, Lancashire, later Slaidburn, Lancashire) raced a March 772P in hillclimbs in 1993, fitted with a 6-cylinder ex-F2 Abarth engine. Alan's recollection is that he bought the March in about 1987 from a private sale advertised in Autosport, and it came from somewhere in the London area. He raced the car in sprints in 1995, when it was powered by a 3.5 Cosworth DFR engine, then for 1996, Newton transferred the engine into a Pilbeam MP58, and the March was sold to Johnathen Varley (Barnsley, South Yorkshire). Varley drove it in the 1600cc class in hillclimbs, then moved to the historic racing car class. He later fitted a 2-litre BDG engine to the car before buying a new car in 2018.
Driven by: Alan Newton. First race: Harewood, 26 Sep 1993. Total of 4 recorded races.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Dan Rear, Steve Wilkinson, Chris Townsend, Kevan McLurg, Philippe Demeyer, Ted Walker, Simon Hadfield, Bryan Millar, Jeremy Hall, Alan Prat, John Bowtell and Alan Newton for their contributions to these histories. Also to Johnathen Varley and Alan Harper (both via Steve Wilkinson), John Travis and Roger Orgee (both via Kevan McLurg), and John Holmes (via David Tuck). And thanks to Harmut Schulz and David Tuck for the use of their photographs.
These histories last updated on .