Howard Marsden dies

Australian motorsport is mourning the loss of Howard Marsden, who has lost a nine-month battle with cancer. Best-known in the northern hemisphere as the architect of the many Nissan Motorsports Europe programmes in Didcot, UK, Marsden made his name as a motorsport executive with Ford Special Vehicles in Australia in the early 1970s before taking charge of the factory Nissan operations there. After leaving NME, he returned to his native country as the general manager of Ford Racing

Aug 20, 2003, 8:37 AM

The figure behind a phrase well-known in down-under motorsport circles - 'Marsden Magic' - he only stepped down at the end of July as a consultant on the Falcon BA programme in the V8 Supercar series.

AVESCO CEO Wayne Cattach said: "This is a very sad loss for Australian motorsport. Howard truly was a gentleman above all other things, who held the respect of all teams be they Ford or Holden. He was an intellectual, well-read with strong interests in many subjects apart from motorsport, ranging from history to the arts.

"On behalf of the entire V8 Supercar family, our sincere condolences go to Christine and the family."