Autosport Plus

The enduring legacy of a motorsport engineering giant

An engineering genius and skilled entrepreneur with a gift for instilling confidence in drivers, the late Robin Herd was a man of many talents. Half a century on from the birth of March, he is remembered by those who worked with him and knew him best

Engineering

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As Ayrton Senna led the slow parade around La Rascasse to line up for the start of the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix, the teams and hangers-on watching from the pitlane turned silent, waiting with bated breath.

Among the crowd, March engineers Tim Holloway and Andy Brown hoped that Ivan Capelli's and Mauricio Gugelmin's Judd V8-powered 881s would hold together and steer clear of the barriers for 78 laps.

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Author James Newbold

James Newbold is Autosport's Plus Editor, responsible for coordinating website feature content.

In a sign of things to come, having completed his Politics and International Relations degree at the University of East Anglia in 2015, he left his graduation ceremony early to catch the last train to Brussels for the following day's Spa 24 Hours.

After a period as a freelancer, he joined the Autosport staff in 2018 and won the Motorsport UK young journalist of the year award. He initially edited Autosport magazine's Performance and Engineering supplements before joining the website team in his current role in 2020.

A keen enthusiast of anything that can be categorised unusual or niche, he enjoys unearthing little-known stories across all branches of motorsport, but has spent most of his career covering sportscars and is a regular part of the Le Mans 24 Hours reporting team.

He lives with his wife and children in Plymouth, England.