MARCH ENGINEERING

The F1 team raced as Leyton House Racing in 1990 and 1991, acquiring Ilmor V10 power. The team nearly caused a massive upset at the 1990 French Grand Prix with Capelli and Gugelmin capitalising on their superior aerodynamics and smooth race track to attempt the race on a single set of tyres while everyone else stopped for tyres mid-race. Engine problems claimed Gugelmin and slowed Capelli allowing Prost to slip by with three laps left. By the end of 1991, Akagi was immersed in the Fuji Bank scandal and Leyton House withdrew from racing. The team was bought by Ken Marrable, an associate of Akagi, and resumed the name March for the 1992 season but with little funding and results fell far short of expectations. The Leyton House Racing operation closed down as the team (now unconnected to the March group) attempted to assemble a project for the beginning of the 1993 season.

Demise

A complex series of buyouts and sales saw the March group (now essentially a financial services outfit) divest itself of its racing interests; after a management buyout, March and Ralt were subsequently sold to Andrew Fitton and Steve Ward in the early 1990s. Fitton later wound March up and Ward continued Ralt at a lower level. In the late 1990s the engineering assets of March were sold to Andy Gilberg. This consisted of over 30,000 engineering drawings and design rights for the customer cars, works F1 cars from the 1970s and other projects produced at the Murdock Road facility. These records are currently available to car owners, racing services providers and historians through