RAM Racing was a British team with roots in the Aurora AFX Formula One Series, a domestic championship running under F1 regulations. After winning the Aurora title in 1980 with Emilio de Villota, team manager John Macdonald sought entry to the Formula One World Championship proper, where rules required teams to construct their own machinery rather than using customer chassis. Lacking the technical resources for in-house construction, Macdonald linked up with Robin Herd — one of March Engineering's founders — who had formed an independent entity called March Grand Prix in late 1980. This company was legally separate from March Engineering and shared no technology with it. The car's March branding and numbering convention were adopted for publicity purposes, and motorsport literature often notes that the 811 is "March who was no March."
Conceptually the 811 was modelled on the Williams FW07, which RAM had raced as a customer in 1980. Paul Brown was assigned the primary design role, but his work was undermined by Herd's cost-cutting directives. The FW07's carbon-fibre reinforced plastic components were replaced with cheaper steel, aluminium, and fibreglass. Herd intervened during fabrication to substitute a lower-grade aluminium honeycomb than Brown had specified, over Brown's repeated objections. The first three chassis tipped the scales at 632 kg, well above the minimum permissible 580 kg.
Gordon Coppuck was later brought in from March Engineering to address the weight issue. His attempts using thinner-gauge aluminium for subsequent chassis made the car lighter but significantly more flexible. At the Belgian Grand Prix the team attempted to stiffen a chassis by adding a second aluminium skin — a modification that added weight without resolving the flex. Adrian Reynard was eventually engaged to rework the design; his revisions shortened the wheelbase and produced the first 811 to reach the 580 kg minimum, designated the Mk3 or RM06 chassis. Despite arriving too late to transform the season, Reynard's collaboration with Brown laid the groundwork for a professional relationship that continued for three decades.
The car used internal torsion bar springs front and rear, a Hewland FGA five-speed gearbox, and AP brakes. Michelin supplied tyres initially, with a switch to Avon from the French Grand Prix onward.
RAM Racing entered the 1981 championship as the March Grand Prix team with Guinness as principal sponsor. Derek Daly was chosen as lead driver; Eliseo Salazar was paired with him for the early races. Salazar qualified for only the San Marino Grand Prix, retiring with an engine failure, before departing to join Ensign along with his sponsorship. Daly contested all rounds but spent the early portion of the season failing to qualify as the heavier, more flexible chassis proved unable to match the pace of established teams.
Once Daly moved to the Reynard-reworked RM06 chassis at the British Grand Prix, qualification became more consistent. His best result was seventh place at Silverstone, which remained the team's high-water mark for the year. Reliability was poor throughout: four retirements were caused by mechanical failures. RAM did not score a championship point.
John Macdonald was publicly critical of the car's quality. He told the press at the Brazilian Grand Prix that "this car is a pile of shit, and that's official." Daly cited the car's lack of quality as a primary reason for leaving to join Theodore the following season.
Two 811 chassis were acquired by Colin Bennett Racing after the season. Chassis RM05 was entered in the 1982 British Formula One Championship with Valentino Musetti, who finished third at Brands Hatch and second at Thruxton. Both RM05 and RM06 subsequently appeared in the 1982 Can-Am series for Bennett, and RM05 was later sold to the Canadian outfit Gordon Lightfoot Racing, which ran it for John Graham through the end of the season. Graham's best finish was eighth in the final race at Laguna Seca.
The March 811 is remembered as one of the least successful cars of the 1981 season and as an object lesson in the consequences of compromising engineering integrity for cost reduction. The friction between Paul Brown's professional standards and Herd's production shortcuts produced a car that was overweight, flexible, and chronically uncompetitive. Its one lasting legacy was the introduction of Adrian Reynard to collaborative Formula One work, pointing toward the successful Reynard racing car programme that would follow in the coming decade.