March 701
_front-left_Heritage_Motor_Centre,_Gaydon.jpg) |
|||||||||
| Category | Formula One/Tasman Series | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | March Engineering | ||||||||
| Designer(s) |
Robin Herd Peter Wright |
||||||||
| Successor | March 711 | ||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||
| Chassis | Aluminium monocoque, with engine as a fully stressed member. | ||||||||
| Suspension (front) | Double wishbone, with outboard coilover spring/damper units | ||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | Double link and radius arms, with outboard coilover spring/damper units | ||||||||
| Length | 156 in (396 cm) | ||||||||
| Height | 36 in (91 cm) | ||||||||
| Axle track | 60 in (152 cm) | ||||||||
| Wheelbase | 93 in (236 cm) | ||||||||
| Engine | Ford Cosworth DFV 2,993 cc (182.6 cu in) 90° V8, naturally aspirated, mid-mounted. | ||||||||
| Transmission | Hewland DG300 5-speed manual gearbox, with Borg & Beck clutch. | ||||||||
| Weight | 565 kg (1,246 lb) | ||||||||
| Lubricants | Elf Aquitaine/STP | ||||||||
| Tyres | Dunlop/Firestone | ||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||
| Notable entrants |
March Engineering Tyrrell Racing Organisation Antique Automobiles |
||||||||
| Notable drivers |
 Jackie Stewart François Cevert Chris Amon Jo Siffert Mario Andretti Ronnie Peterson
|
||||||||
| Debut | 1970 South African Grand Prix | ||||||||
|
|||||||||
| n.b. Unless otherwise stated, all data refer to Formula One World Championship Grands Prix only. |
|||||||||
The March 701 is a Formula One racing car model, designed by Robin Herd with Peter Wright, and built by March Engineering. The 701 was March's first Formula One design – following their one-off March 693P Formula Three prototype of 1969 – and was designed and built in only three months. The March 701 made its race debut a month after its public unveiling, at the 1970 South African Grand Prix. In total, eleven 701s were constructed, with March supplying many privateer entrants as well as their own works team. The 701's career started well, March drivers taking three wins and three pole positions from the car's first four race entries, but lack of development through the 1970 Formula One season resulted in increasingly poor results as the year wore on. The 701 was superseded by the March 711 in 1971, and made its last World Championship race appearance at the 1971 Italian Grand Prix.
March Engineering was set up in September 1969 by amateur racing drivers Max Mosley, Alan Rees and Graham Coaker, with engineer and former McLaren and Cosworth racing car designer Robin Herd. After producing their first prototype, the 693P, in Coaker's garage Max Mosely announced that March would enter a car for the first Grand Prix of the 1970 Formula One season. Designer Robin Herd started work on the car in November 1969, and by the 701's official press launch on 6 February 1970 two cars had been finished and were ready to run. In order to complete the car in the short time available Herd had been forced to take a "British Standard" conservative approach and held over more advanced features for the 701's 1971 successor, the March 711.L. J. K. Setright, writing in Car Magazine, described the 701 as "a Chinese copy of a McLaren Lotus" and suggested that "to make a better 1967 car in 1970 is just being wise after the event." Interviewed in 2010, Herd stated that at the time he was "disillusioned by the 701, because it was nothing like the car I wanted to build." The stress and workload involved with getting the car finished to Mosley's ambitious deadline meant that Herd lost over a stone and half in weight.
...
Wikipedia