March 772P - 778

[Kevin Miller]

Dear All, my brother suggested I use this site to trace history of my March, hope I don't bore you with all the details. Sitting in my garage is MARCH with chassis plate 772-05 attached to monocoque tub 773:36. Bought by me in May 1999 off a guy in Australia who had done a deal with Garry Cliff (Magnum Motorsport) in New Zealand in 1998. Garry Cliff had acquired the car from John MacKinlay (Auckland) around Nov.96 and John acquired it possibly late '94 from Kenny Smith. The NZ advertisement (NZ Speedsport No.88) suggests it was an ex Riley car and it was called a 77B. However I talked to Brett and his father, John and the details didn't ring a bell with them. Also Kenny Smith was a bit vague, thought it wasn't the ex-Dave Saunders car but possibly the ex-Giltrap car. That is about all I know of NZ history. Then there is the European history!! It is well documented that 772-05 (with tub 772:05) was the Hart powered car that Giacomelli drove in the first four races in 1977. According to Duncan R. records my tub,(773:36) was in 77B-16 being tested at Silverston on 15/2/77 with a BMW and FT200. This package was rebadged? as the first '77 prototype 772P-U1. This prototype does the first four races with P.Neve, A.Ribeiro and J.Mass as drivers. Come Vallelunga May 15th Giacomelli gets to drive the P car and Alex Ribeiro gets stuck with 772-05(slower). According to Autosport May 19 pg.40 race report about the P car and I quote 'This was not the same chassis that had won the previous two races in the hands of Jochen Mass. After its Nurburgring victory it was found (literally) to be falling apart at the seams, especially around the rear bulkhead, so a completely new chassis was built with a stronger monocoque, a revised F1-type nose subframe and strengthened bulkheads' etc. etc. Another Autosport report June 2 pg.3 suggest that there is a rift between Ribeiro and March, although March deny it. However Ribiero goes on to drive a Chevron on June 26. I can only assume it is because he got to drive the slower wide bodied car and was not happy. So, after Vallelunga we seem to have tub 773:36 and wide bodied 772-05 both sitting forlornly in the March factory (772-05 does not sufface again in '77). Giacomelli goes on for the rest of the season in the prototype U1. My theory is that March build up another prototype (spare?) using the reglued/rerivetted 773:36 tub and all the F2 mechanicals off 772-05 (possibly for Giacomelli) and this is why I have this combination in my garage. I can find no mention of a second protoype being built, however, miraculously a second one appears at Donington on Oct 30 with Marc Surer as driver. Alex Ribeiro has been put back in U1 while Giacomelli moves on to the 782 prototype for this final race of the season. 772-05 appears again in 1978 with Sergio Mangotti listed as the driver at Nurburgring and Mugello. I would love to see a photo at this time to check if it is the wide bodied tub or the narrow sidepod P configuration. I have no information between the 1978 appearance and the mid 90's recent history. Can any of you guys out there shed some light on this little problem. One other minor clue is that on one of the spun rear rims (composite wheels) is written Shierson's name. Possibly tagged with a name while being repaired? Any info will be gratefully accepted. Hopefully attached is a photo of the car in NZ sometime in mid '90s.