The March 881 was a Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 racing car designed by Adrian Newey

Adrian Newey

Adrian Newey is a notable Formula One engineer and widely regarded one of the great engineers in the sport's history. He is the only designer to have won Constructors Championships with three different Formula One teams...

 (his first ever F1 car) and raced by March Racing Team

March Engineering

March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...

 in the 1988 Formula One season

1988 Formula One season

The 1988 Formula One season was the 39th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1988 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on April 3, 1988 and ended on November 13 after sixteen races...

 by Italian Ivan Capelli

Ivan Capelli

Ivan Franco Capelli is an Italian former Formula One driver. He participated in 98 Grands Prix, debuting on October 6, 1985. He achieved 3 podiums, and scored a total of 31 championship points...

 and the debuting Maurício Gugelmin

Mauricio Gugelmin

Maurício Gugelmin is a former racing driver from Brazil. He took part in both Formula One and the Champ Car World Series. He participated in 80 Formula One grands prix, debuting in 1988 for the March team. He achieved one top-three finish and scored a total of ten championship points in the series...

 from Brazil. The car's best result was a second place driven by Capelli at the 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix

1988 Portuguese Grand Prix

The 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on September 25, 1988 at the Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril. It was the thirteenth race of the 1988 Formula One season.-Race summary:...

.

The March 881 used the Judd V8 engine

V8 engine

A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....

 and was consistently the fastest speed trapped 'atmo

Naturally-aspirated engine

A naturally aspirated engine is one common type of reciprocating piston internal combustion engine that depends solely on atmospheric pressure to counter the partial vacuum in the induction tract to draw in combustion air...

' car of the 1988 season. Capelli and his March 881 was the only non-turbo car/driver combination in 1988 to actually lead a grand prix when he briefly took the lead on lap 16 of the Japanese Grand Prix

1988 Japanese Grand Prix

The 1988 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Suzuka Circuit, Japan, on October 30, 1988. It was the fifteenth and penultimate race of the 1988 Formula One season.-Race summary:...

 from Alain Prost

Alain Prost

Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur is a French racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, Prost has won more titles than any driver except for Juan Manuel Fangio , and Michael Schumacher . From 1987 until 2001 Prost held the record for most Grand Prix...

 in his McLaren Honda

McLaren MP4/4

The McLaren MP4/4 was a highly successful Formula 1 car that competed in the 1988 Formula One season. It was designed by Gordon Murray, who based the design on his lowline Brabham BT55 car of 1986, and American engineer Steve Nichols. It is one of the most dominant Formula One cars ever built,...

. This was also the first time since the season that a naturally aspirated

Naturally-aspirated engine

A naturally aspirated engine is one common type of reciprocating piston internal combustion engine that depends solely on atmospheric pressure to counter the partial vacuum in the induction tract to draw in combustion air...

 car had led a Formula One grand prix.

Capelli finished the season in 7th place with 17 points while Gugelmin finished his debut season in 13th place with 5 points. March finished the year 6th in the Constructors Championship with 22 points.

With the new March CG891 only being completed in time for the 1989 Monaco Grand Prix

1989 Monaco Grand Prix

The 1989 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Monaco on May 7, 1989.- Race summary :The field was one fewer in Monaco as Ferrari had decided not to run a second car to replace Gerhard Berger, who was injured in an accident at Imola. Elsewhere Tyrrell had new cars that looked promising...

, the team were forced to use the 881 for some races in . Gugelmin finished a magnificent 3rd at his home grand prix in Brazil

1989 Brazilian Grand Prix

The 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Jacarepaguá on March 26, 1989.-Report:The FIRST team withdrew before the beginning of the season, as the car had failed a mandatory FIA pre-season crash test...

in the old 881 but these were in fact his and the team's only points of 1989.