March 2-4-0

The March 2-4-0 was a six-wheeled prototype of a Formula 1 car that was built by March Engineering in Bicester. It was created in late 1976 and has been tested in early 1977.

The car was a six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 development of, but the design principle, which stood behind the 2-4-0, was completely different.

The Tyrrell P34: Four wheels, front

Main article: Tyrrell P34 The undisguised front wheels of a Formula 1 car provide increased air resistance. The idea behind the Tyrrell P34 was that the air resistance with smaller front wheels can be reduced. At that time, the front wheels of F1 cars a diameter of about 16 "( 40 cm), Tyrrell wanted front wheels with a 10 " insert (25 cm) in diameter. The resulting reduction in lateral force of the front wheels should be increased through the use of four wheels in the front again, so that the benefits have been combined by reduced air resistance and increased cornering power. All four front wheels were steerable.

The P34 was quite successful; two of these cars occupied positions 1 and 2 in the Swedish Grand Prix in 1976. Tyrrell The team also reached the places 3 and 4 overall in the championship. In 1977, the carriage was less successful and allowed the idea of ​​fall. One reason for this was that Goodyear, although they had delivered special tires for the P34, had this developed not as good as the usual racing tires. Also has been found that the relatively complicated by the four-wheel steering front suspension significantly increase the weight of the car.

Another Sechsradkonzept for F1 cars: Four wheels, rear

In March Engineering in Bicester, the designer Robin Herd watched the P34 experiment exactly and the end of 1976 came to the conclusion that the concept of the four front wheels led to an impasse. According to his calculations, the gain in aerodynamics due to the smaller front wheels from 24 " (60 cm) wide rear wheels reversed, as they were still responsible for 30-40 % of the total drag of the car. He also thought that the extra grip could be better utilized for drive wheels.

With these ideas in mind stove constructed a six-wheeled Formula 1 racing car with four drive wheels at the rear and two steered wheels in the front, where all the wheels " had the same diameter of 16. His theory was that if all six wheels of the same diameter would like the regular Formula 1 front wheels, the car would not only be narrower than a normal F1 car, but the air flow over the wing would be much invertebrates poorer. Four driving wheels also meant better traction and - unlike the Tyrrell - there would be no problems with the development of special tires as the usual front wheel size would be used.

Stove called his concept based on the name in the railway system " 2-4-0 " - two wheels in front of the drive wheels, four driving wheels and no wheel behind the drive wheels.

Construction and Development

After the obvious technical advantages of the concept were pointed out to him, was Max Mosley, hearth partner in March, the development of a prototype free. Mosley had registered that the P34 Tyrrell had given a lot of extra publicity, and thought that a six-wheeled March would provide not only technical advantages, but would also be an attractive proposition for potential sponsors.

The financial situation of the March team was quite tense in the years 1976/1977 and the cost of developing a completely new six- wheeled vehicle were very high. As a compromise, one of a Cosworth DFV engine powered March 761 was rebuilt in 1976 by ​​the team engineer Wayne Eckersley in a quiet corner of the factory in Bicester. Already existing parts of the conventional production were used wherever possible.

A key technology in a four-wheel drive car is the transmission. A brilliant idea for reducing friction losses was required. The transmission should also stronger - and therefore heavier - than be an ordinary gear to withstand the higher stresses of a four wheel drive system with low axial spacing.

Herds original construction of the transmission housing was reinforced to compensate for the additional load of ribs. Then it was realized, however, that this case would have been very complex and expensive to manufacture. So you removed some ribs back from the drawing in order to save costs.

Actually, there was the new transmission from a conventional Hewland F1 gearbox for the first drive axle to which the additional housing and extra gears and shafts for the second drive axle were just grown back. This also meant that any 761 chassis would be quickly rebuilt when the system would prove impractical.

When the 2-4-0 was partially completed, were invited to the press in late November 1976 in the factory in order to take a look at the hitherto "secret" project. This revelation was of great interest and appeared in various magazines articles motor and an additional photo on the cover of the magazine Autosport in the following week ( edition 2 December 1976).

At the same time the company also announced that it wanted to send the new car in 14 days for a demonstration ride and more test runs to Silverstone ..

Tests

The first driving test in Silverstone was conducted in late 1976. In the first round, pulled a gearbox and the gears not meshed. And there was found no instant solution to the problem, the drive for the second axis was expanded and so drove the tests on this day to end. Thus, the 2-4-0 was in the end, back to the race car with only one driven axle. Fortunately, for March, it was a rainy day on the race track and the driver Howden Ganley could not drive too fast. Thus, the test in the media was considered a success.

The problems in the first round showed that the car needed a stronger gearbox and a serious development. Since the company but neither have the time nor the necessary money could muster for this purpose, the project was initially postponed.

In February 1977, the car was - now with a stronger gearbox housing - again tested at Silverstone. Ian Scheckter was this time the driver. Although it was a rainy day again, Scheckter drove the car up and down the Hangar Straight. All four wheels were driven time and Scheckter stated that the traction "incredible" is. Even to the events of that day were again on the front page of Autosport mentioned (Issue February 10, 1977 ).

But this was about the end of the development history of the 2-4-0. When the 761 appeared in June at the Belgian Grand Prix, he was again a conventional F1 car with four wheels.

The myth of the emergence of the Grand Prix of Brazil

In August 2002, an article appeared on the 8W site who claimed due to a misinterpreted photos, the 2-4-0 "could" be the end of January 1977 mitgefahren the Grand Prix of Brazil. In fact, showed the photo showed a test drive of the car at Silverstone in February 1977, based on contemporary reports from the Brazilian Grand Prix, we know that the 2-4-0 was definitely not there. The author of the website has been corrected his article, but before that he served as a source for a number of other websites.

Hillclimb

In 1979, the 2-4-0- concept was revived by the British hillclimb specialist Roy Lane. Lane had purchased a March 771 chassis and got with Robin hearth blessing asked the improved 2 -4- 0 gear unit. The fact that the 2-4-0 was originally a low-cost workshop conversion of a normal March -F1 chassis, made ​​sure that Lane could easily be adapted to his car.

Lane took advantage of four-wheel drive and was able to win with the 771/2-4-0 some mountain races, especially the in Wiscombe Park in May. However, the car proved in the season as not sufficiently reliable and Lane resorted to return a car with four wheels.

Legacy

Despite its limited success in the short race was never proved that the 2-4 0- concept would not be suitable. Maybe the 2-4-0 would have been successful in Formula 1, when you would have improved it a weight reduction program undergo (possibly with lighter and stronger materials ) and the dubious handling. The concept certainly could well be the next technology to the increased downforce adjusted in Formula 1.

The Williams F1 team has probably made ​​himself hearth theories as its own, because they built and tested in 1982 a six- wheeled vehicle in the style of 2-4-0, the FW08B was called. However, all hopes of ever seeing a 2-4-0 in an official race were dashed when the FIA banned all -wheel drive systems from Formula 1. The FW08B is exhibited in the work of Williams Museum.

However, the March -2-4 -0- story had to be good for the company that built it. As Max Mosley had foreseen, the car was a great Publicitymagnet. Furthermore March deserved well in selling the building rights to Scalextric, the makers of the best selling toy 1:32 racetracks.