Leyton House Racing was a Formula One constructor that raced in the 1990 and 1991 seasons.

It was, in essence, a rebranding of the March team which had returned to F1 in 1987.

Leyton House was a real estate, properties, clothing shops, restaurants and travel, hotels and music publishing brand of Japanese real-estate company Marusho Kosan. Leyton House was created as a separate brand in 1985. It had been the team's marquee sponsor since 1987 and went on to buy the team in 1989.

The company adopted its trademark "Leyton blue", a pastel turquoise-like shade of blue near to emerald green, said to have been adopted by Akagi as its corporate color from ``Miami Blue,'' which was the body color of his Honda City Cabriolet.

Drivers Ivan Capelli and Maurício Gugelmin, who had been with March since 1987 and 1988 respectively, continued with the team under its new guise.

In 1986, Akira Akagi's driver Akira Hagiwara died when he crashed a Mercedes 190E touring car during a test session at Sportsland Sugo. Then Akagi went to Imola for the F3000 race, where he met Ivan Capelli's manager Cesare Gariboldi. Akagi wanted to have Capelli driving for him in the 1986 Japanese Formula Two Championship in place of Hagiwara. Capelli finished his partial Japanese season with a third place at Suzuka.

Akagi gave Capelli extra prize money for his efforts and he also gave Capelli more money to continue in Europe. With his F3000 car now bearing Leyton House colours, Capelli won the Austrian GP support race on his way to the 1986 International Formula 3000 Championship title. Akagi offered him US$200,000 for a full F2 season in Japan in 1987, but Capelli and Gariboldi told him they were ready to move up to Formula 1 and asked Akagi to sponsor him in F1 for US$4 million instead. Akagi agreed and Gariboldi went to Robin Herd of March Engineering to get a car built for Capelli and have it painted in the Leyton House cyan. Robin Herd recruited Ian Phillips to be the team manager.

leyton house march racing team

1987

The initial 1987 March F1 car, the March 87P, was a March 86B F3000 chassis modified to accommodate a bigger fuel tank and with revised aerodynamics, mated with a Ford Cosworth DFZ engine. At the first race, the 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix, March had a team of just 17 people, including Akagi, his girlfriend, his translator and Capelli's father. Engine tuner Heini Mader did not yet have a full-spec Cosworth DFZ ready, so the team used a World Sports Car Championship-spec engine that was not very powerful. On the straights the turbocharged cars were at least 60 mph faster.

1988

In August 1987, Adrian Newey came to March F1 and designed the March-Judd 881 for Capelli and Maurício Gugelmin to drive. The car was a real success, scoring 22 points in 1988, including a second place at the 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix.

It was the only normally aspirated car to lead a race in anger. This was the first time since 1983 that a naturally-aspirated powered car had led a Grand Prix. The aerodynamics and ultra-slim monocoque of the 881 were copied by most of the grid in 1989 and the car launched Newey as a superstar designer.

1989

In May 1989 the publicly-owned March company sold off its F1 team and the rights to produce F3000 cars to Akagi. The racing team thus became a manufacturer. From a staff of 19 in 1987, the team grew to 120.

The March CG891 was introduced at the Monaco Grand Prix, The team finished the 1989 Constructors' Championship in 12th, having achieved just four points.

Many of the March CG891's reliability problems was due to the casing used for the inboard gear cluster; this proved to have some flex and resulted in some gearbox failures. Some other failures were due to the electrical paraphernalia of the Judd EV, with only the odd piston and valvegear issues.

leyton house racing

1990

For the 1990 season, the team used the CG901 chassis, designed by Adrian Newey and powered by a Judd V8 engine. There was an aerodynamic issue with the Southampton wind tunnel, causing the team to struggle.

Leyton House was also running into financial problems. Team manager Harry Mandel also resigned, while Newey was replaced as technical director by Gustav Brunner. Several other engineers, brought over from March, also departed that year.

1991

For 1991, Brunner and Chris Murphy designed the CG911 chassis, while the team switched from the Judd V8 engine to the new Ilmor V10. As in 1990, the team struggled early on in the season.

In September 1991, team owner Akira Akagi was implicated in a financial scandal involving his company, Marusho Kosan and the Fuji Bank and was arrested. Akagi's associate Ken Marrable took over the running of the team, but money was now short. 

The point from Hungary placed Capelli 20th in the Drivers' Championship, and the team 12th in the Constructors' Championship.

cg901

The Leyton House CG901 was a Formula One racing car designed by Adrian Newey for the 1990 Formula One World Championship. Five chassis were built and were powered by the Judd EV 3.5 litre V8 engine. Chassis 001 was subsequently modified mid-season to accommodate the Ilmor 2175A engine the team used in 1991. The drivers for 1990 were the highly rated Ivan Capelli and Maurício Gugelmin.

The CG in the name stood for Cesare Gariboldi, a March Leyton team manager who was killed in a road accident in 1989.

The CG901 appeared in two distinct specifications, the early season A spec and the mid to late season B spec. The change was largely an aerodynamic update to correct design errors incurred as a result of erroneous data from the team's wind tunnel. The basis for the car was an evolution of the CG891 of 1989.

The performance of the CG901 was very poor before the introduction of the B specification car at the French Grand Prix of 1990. For the remainder of the season performance remained patchy and was plagued with reliability problems.

 

  Ivan Capelli    Maurício Gugelmin

cg911

1988

The Leyton House CG911 was a Formula One racing car designed by Chris Murphy and Gustav Brunner for the 1991 Formula One season. Unlike its CG901 predecessor, which used a Judd EV V8 engine, the CG911 used an Ilmor 2175A V10 engine. Leyton House Racing initially started the 1991 season with Maurício Gugelmin and Ivan Capelli as their drivers, as they had in 1990, but Karl Wendlinger replaced Capelli for the final two races of the season.

For 1992, when Leyton House renamed themselves as March F1, the CG911 was updated to the March CG911B specification, with Wendlinger, Jan Lammers, Paul Belmondo and Emanuele Naspetti all sharing driving duties.

Although March initially intended to run the CG911C in 1993 with Lammers and Jean-Marc Gounon, the team folded and they did not compete that year.

The CG911 was the first Formula One car to use an Ilmor-developed engine, after Akira Akagi formed a partnership between Ilmor and Leyton House Racing. This engine, the 2175A (also known as the LH10), was a V10 engine that had initially been developed in 1989 in response to the banning of turbocharged cars in Formula One at the end of the previous season.

The CG911 was updated to the CG911B specification after Leyton House were renamed as March F1 in 1992, and a CG911C specification car was entered in 1993, but never raced.

 

      Maurício Gugelmin      Ivan Capelli      Karl Wendlinger     

the end

The team was sold to a consortium including Marrable, Brunner, lawyer John Byfield and Dutch motorsport businessman Henny Vollenberg. For the 1992 season it reverted to the March name, perhaps in an effort to distance itself from the controversy surrounding Akagi and the Leyton House company. Wendlinger stayed on, joined by Paul Belmondo; the Austrian driver finished fourth in Canada. However, money remained tight and Belmondo was eventually replaced by Emanuele Naspetti, while Wendlinger made way for Jan Lammers, a friend of Vollenberg, returning to F1 after a ten-year absence.

Attempts to sell the team during the winter of 1992 failed and despite nominating Lammers and Jean-Marc Gounon to drive in 1993, there was not enough money and the team folded in early 1993.

On 8 August 2018 founder Akira Akagi died.

March F1 were in major financial trouble prior to the start of the 1993 season, and an attempt at doing a deal with a Swiss firm did not amount to anything. They entered the 1993 South African Grand Prix with Lammers and Jean-Marc Gounon, but did not compete; although their cars arrived at the Kyalami circuit, the engines did not. Out of money, March folded soon after, and did not compete in Formula One again.