Hesketh rented a Surtees TS9 for the non-championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, with Hunt finishing third. This success led to the purchase of a March 731, with Hesketh also signing junior March Engineering designer Harvey Postlethwaite to modify the chassis, working from Hesketh's Easton Neston estate. The car made its first appearance at the 1973 Monaco Grand Prix, where Hunt ran sixth before the engine failed. He scored a point at the team's next entry, the French Grand Prix, improved to fourth for the British Grand Prix, and then third for the Dutch Grand Prix. He then took second place in the season-closing United States Grand Prix.