In 1976, the British team March Engineering was on the verge of collapse, struggling with scarce financial resources and, even worse, lacking a development plan for the future, as interest in the top racing series had taken a back seat. The team's historic designer, Robin Herd, under pressure from BMW Motorsport Racing, who used March chassis in Formula 2, was entirely focused on developing the new car for the lower category. As a result, to tackle the 1976 Formula 1 season, March reworked the old 751 chassis, primarily upgrading the braking system, which had been the team's Achilles' heel in 1975, and adjusting weight distribution to make the car more manageable.
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| MARCH 761, Ronnie Peterson Zandvoort, Dutch GP 1976 |
Two new March 761 cars, still powered by the Ford Cosworth DFV engine and equipped with the old Hewland DG 400 six-speed gearbox, were directly managed by the factory and entrusted to German driver Hans-Joachim Stuck and Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson, who returned to March after a disappointing stint with Lotus. The livery of the two cars changed frequently throughout the season, depending on different sponsors, who altered the car’s colors based on race-by-race agreements.
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| MARCH 761, Hans Joachim Stuck Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1976 |
Throughout the 1976 season, the Beta Team March also fielded an official 761, driven by Italian Vittorio Brambilla and managed by a private team competing under a British license. Two other teams used the March 761: the Lavazza Team March, which only entered the season-opening race in Brazil with Italian driver Lella Lombardi, and the Ovoro Merzario March team, which, with Italian driver Arturo Merzario, participated in seven consecutive Grands Prix starting from the third race of the season. Despite its poor results, the 761 Ovoro Merzario is particularly remembered for the tragic German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, where Merzario played a crucial role in rescuing Niki Lauda from his burning Ferrari.
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| MARCH 761 Team Ovoro, Arturo Merzario Jarama, Spanish GP 1976 |
The 761 was a fast but highly unreliable car, and the 1976 season was plagued by frequent retirements, mainly due to the inherent fragility of an outdated chassis built with subpar materials, given the limited resources of the Bicester-based factory in Oxfordshire, England. Nevertheless, during this season, March secured its second and final Formula 1 victory, thanks to an unexpected win by Peterson on the fast Monza circuit. At the end of the season, March accumulated 19 points, thanks also to occasional points finishes by Stuck and Brambilla, finishing seventh in the Constructors’ Championship.
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| March 761 "2-4-0" |
After the season ended, one 761 chassis was modified by Robin Herd to test a six-wheeled Formula 1 car concept, inspired by Tyrrell’s similar experiment. However, unlike Tyrrell, which placed four wheels at the front, March positioned the double wheels at the rear, on two separate axles. Herd believed that Tyrrell's advantage of having four front wheels was negated by the enormous aerodynamic drag of the large rear tires, whereas his system aimed to provide a sleeker, lower profile and excellent traction from the four rear wheels. Unfortunately, the concept proved disastrous, producing an excessively long, unreliable, and difficult-to-handle car, particularly in corners. The project was quickly abandoned, and the March 761 "2-4-0", as it was named, never raced.
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