Without leaving a trace

April 1970, Magny Cours circuit: the young Niki Lauda sets off for the Formula 3 race on the Gers circuit at the wheel of his McNamara, ahead of Etienne Vigoureux’s Martini and Reine Wisell’s Lotus. 

After making his Formula V debut the previous year, the Austrian only made a few appearances in F3 because he deemed the young guns’ field too dangerous. That same year, he took part in a few sports car races, in Porsches and Chevrons, before moving directly to Formula 2 with March the following season thanks to a bank loan. You know the rest!

For the record, the McNamara MkIII single-seater was designed in 1969 by Dan Hawkes for Francis McNamara, an American soldier based in Germany, after he had already completed a Formula V car. The two men would go on to provide an IndyCar chassis for Mario Andretti at the 1970 500 Miles, while also contributing to the development of the March 701 STP Formula 1 car.

But suddenly, in December 1970, McNamara’s wife was murdered, and Francis immediately disappeared. Wanted by Interpol, he never gave any sign of life again…