BMW & March (Part 1 with 732)

After a 3 year absent from Formula 2, BMW was back to Formula 2 in 1973 and chose March as their official team: it was why the BMW unit became standard-issue for the March 732 Formula 2 car.

To March, 1973 marked the first year where F2 became more important than F1, with the new two-litre rules marking the beginning of a long relationship with Paul Rosche at BMW. March undertook to buy a quantity of BMW engines each year in exchange for 'works' units for their own team. 

With main sponsorship from STP - the long-term sponsor of March from 1970, they employed two French aces - Jean Pierre Jarier (see pic above, from the Marchives) and Jean Pierre Beltoise - as the main drivers, in which Jarier became the champion in the European Formula 2 Championship. They also invited Hans Stuck Jr, Andy Sutcliffe, Henri Pescarolo and Motoharu Kurosawa to race for them in selected rounds.