MARCH: THE RISE AND FALL
OF A MOTOR RACING LEGEND

By Mike Lawrence.
Published by Motor Racing Publications.

Originally published under the title 'Four Guys and a Telephone', this updated edition of Mike Lawrence's history of the March organisation was reissued to surprisingly little fanfare last year. This is a great shame, because I'm really struggling to think of a better team biography from any era, much less one from Formula One's more recent years.

Anyone who has read this book will most likely agree with my assessment: it's bloody brilliant. The original version was released in 1989 at a time when the company was recovering from flying dangerously close to the flame, and there was even talk of the Formula One team being resurrected. Since then, of course, March has taken the final step from the endangered list to extinction. Accordingly, an extra chapter has been included tracing the final relegation of the March empire to the realm of the historians.

This is one of those books that really does live up to its own hype, and March co-founder (and later, company figurehead) Robin Herd accurately sums up in his Foreword: "most books tend to be little more than a catalogue of results and technical facts which eulogise the subject. This one is unusual in that it deals with people as well as facts, and the bad side as well as the good; it is a portrait showing warts and all. The result is the true story of what went on, one of the few true stories ever written about motor racing, and it is a unique insight into the business of the sport."

Lawrence has a meandering, conversational style of writing – economy of words is not something to which he pays much heed – so getting through this book requires a greater investment of time than you might expect at first glance. But it is this same stylistic quality that draws the reader so deeply into the book, and coupled with the heavy emphasis on the people that made the whole March effort happen, the reader soon starts to feel like a fly on the wall during crucial points in the company's history.

Lawrence had the full co-operation of most of those central to the story, and while this can sometimes be detrimental to a book's integrity, the astonishing honesty of those interviewed in this instance makes for some fascinating reading. Lawrence's keenly perceptive comments and conclusions help round the story off, leaving few questions unanswered, and providing the reader with what must be among the most thoughtful, comprehensive and complete histories of any racing company in the sport's history, never mind one that was still operational at the time the book was first published.

This is a tell-all book, but not in a mud-slinging kind of way. Lawrence, as far as I can tell, seems to relate events, conversations, and incidents as they happened. Nobody is spared from occasionally being represented in a less-than-flattering light if the tale demands it, but nor are they hung totally out to dry. The author is commendably fair, and it speaks volumes that while Herd and Max Mosley both read the manuscript prior to publication, they requested the bare minimum of changes. (In fact, Mosley apparently asked that one single word be changed).

The extent of Lawrence's research is reflected by the great detail in which the story is told, and those fond of facts and figures will be especially appreciative of the very extensive appendix, which contains all sorts of details about March's racing history.

One small and rather trivial mistake slipped through the net: writing about the Indy 500, Lawrence states that, "It's the biggest, the brightest, the brashest, and it's very, very important – no other race has a 220-page annual devoted to it." (p. 171). Sorry Mike, but Australia's Bathurst 1000 touring car race has a 220+ page annual book titled 'The Great Race', and has had for the past twenty years. I have also seen books relating to specific years at Le Mans, although I am not sure whether these are actually regular annuals or not.

Moving on, most of the photos are in black and white and are there for illustrative purposes rather than artistic statements, but they more than serve their purpose.

There are a wealth of entertaining anecdotes throughout the book, but some really do deserve special attention. One comes from Robin Herd's description of March's efforts to lure Ronnie Peterson away from Lotus:

"There was great politicking going on and we were trying to keep this away from Chapman. I was in Ronnie's hotel bedroom talking to him and we were discussing how we were going to dominate the world on our £50,000 and there was this knock at the door; it was Chapman. There were two single beds in the room and I dived between one and the wall so that it finished up with Ronnie sitting on one bed, Chapman on the other, and me on the floor just behind Chapman.

"There was Colin telling Ronnie that we were a load of thieving bastards who didn't have any money, and Lotus was going to be doing this, that, and the other. He went on for an hour outlining all his plans with me dying for a leak but hanging on every word. I often wonder what would have happened if I'd got up and gone to the bathroom; a good talker, Chapman, very convincing." (p. 103)

It sometimes gets forgotten that the heartbeat of all motor racing outfits is the core of enthusiasts – the 'Four Guys and a Telephone', as it were - who simply wanted to find a way to go racing and managed to make it happen. Nevertheless, Lawrence has in this case gone straight to the essence of what March was all about, and his efforts have been rewarded with one of the most superb team books of the past 25 years. Even if you've never seen a March-branded car in your life, go and seek this book out immediately.