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BMW M1/C or March 81P - start in Group C

Name: BMW M1/C 1981
Brand: BMW

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Created on March 20, 2019

Text:

Olivier Chanson

Photos:

Chuck Ritz

BMW USA Classic

Kenwood Archiv

Mark Windecker

Bruno von Rotz

BMW Group Archiv

Sardou

Jan Bot

Archiv

Chuck Ritz

BMW USA Classic

Kenwood Archiv

Mark Windecker

Bruno von Rotz

BMW Group Archiv

Sardou

Jan Bot

Archiv

BMW M1/C (March 81P) (1981) - In racing use

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Very rare photo: BMW M1/C (March 81P) (1981) at the Pabst 500 Camel GT race on Road America, with drivers David Hobbs, Vern Schuppan, Marc Surer (did not take part)

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BMW M1/C (March 81P) (1981) - BMW Group Archive

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BMW M1/C (March 81P) (1981) - Impressive aerodynamics with twin tunnels

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BMW M1/C (March 81P) (1981) - Road Atlanta GT II race in September 1981

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BMW M1/C (March 81P) (1981) - Team BMW North America with David Hobbs/Marc Surer/John Morton at the 1981 6 Hours of Riverside

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Ardex S80 (1981) - racing car with aerodynamics by French engineer Max Sardou, disqualified at Le Mans 1981

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BMW M1/C (March 81P) (1981) - At BMW USA Classic 2014

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BMW March M1 (1980) - The car with chassis 003 by Jim Busby, Road Atlanta April 13, 1980

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March 703 F2 (1970) at the Michaelskreuzrennen 2011 (starting number 361)

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March 721 (1972) - with Ford-Cosworth engine - behind Robin Herd, Ronnie Peterson and Max Mosley

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Summary

When the new "Group C" racing series was announced in Europe, starting in 1982, BMW wanted to gain initial experience as early as possible. For this reason, a new car was designed in collaboration with March Engineering to meet the new requirements.

This article contains the following chapters

March Engineering
Aerodynamics as the trump card - construction and technical data of the BMW M1/C
Debut at Riverside 1981 - success despite breakdowns
4th place with turbo
Further development of the M1/C
All racing entries of the BMW M1/C (March 81P)

Estimated reading time: 13min

Preview (beginning of the article)

When the new "Group C" racing series was announced in Europe, starting in 1982, BMW wanted to gain initial experience as early as possible and decided to use the similar "GTP" group from the USA for this purpose. A new vehicle was therefore needed and BMW commissioned the British company "March Engineering" and numerous smaller manufacturers to take responsibility for this project. At that time, BMW-Motorsport GmbH was not in a fortunate position and simply did not have the means to design a new car completely on its own. In 1980, evil tongues even claimed that the company was on the verge of liquidation. BMW board member Hans-Erdmann Schönbeck corrected this impression at the press conference at the beginning of 1981 and described 1980 as a "year of reorganization and transition". Despite sobering results from the previous year, BMW Motorsport GmbH wanted to maintain its presence and set the tone.

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