Robin Herd, the co-founder and designer at March, has died at the age of 80 after a lengthy illness.

Herd made his first foray into racing in 1965 when he joined the McLaren Racing team. In his first three years with the team Herd helped develop the car that would earn McLaren it’s first Formula One victory, the M7. He also developed cars that would represent McLaren in the now defunct Can-Am Series.

In 1968 Herd departed McLaren for Cosworth, but it wouldn’t be long before departed Cosworth to co-found March with Max Mosley in 1969.

March would go on to compete in Formula One for the next two decades, earning four victories during that time. March’s greatest success came at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where his chassis designs won five-straight Indianapolis 500s from 1983 to 1987.

He sold his majority-share of March in 1989 and eventually left racing entirely.