Nève flies over Silverstone

Patrick Nève flies by in the works March 772P-BMW at the 1977 Daily Express Trophy race at Silverstone (picture-above). The Belgian led the race until 8 laps from home, when a wheel nut came loose, which meant a visit to the pits. He finished third. It was a very promising start of the season for him, but instead of continuing in F2 with a good shot at the championship, Nève choose to move straight up to the F1.

After some success in Formula Ford and Formula 3, Nève initially made the big jump to Formula One in 1976 with the RAM team, driving a Brabham BT44b at the Belgian Grand Prix. After another one-off drive with Ensign at the 1976 French Grand Prix, he raced in 1977 with the newly formed Williams Grand Prix Engineering, driving a March 761B-Ford, but did not succeed to score any championship point. Best result, 7th at Monza (picture below, leading Ronnie Peterson in his Tyrrell P34/2)