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1973 World Rally Championship

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The 1973 World Rally Championship was the inaugural season for the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC) format. It consisted of 13 events, each held in a different country of the world. Many of the events would be staples of the series through to today, including Monte Carlo, Sweden, Tour de Corse, and the RAC Rally, while others would soon be replaced in the schedule. As with following seasons, gravel events formed the majority of the schedule. Two pure tarmac and one snow and ice rally were also included, as well as three events held on a mixture of soft and hard surface roads.

The first award of the Championship for Manufacturers was firmly won by Alpine-Renault, which had already gained fame competing for the earlier International Championship for Manufacturers. Fiat successfully placed second ahead of challenger Ford, but could not seriously challenge the winning Alpine. However, this would also prove to be the last award for the Alpine, as it gave way in subsequent years to Italian firms Lancia and Fiat. A French manufacturer would not regain the Championship again until Peugeot successfully captured the 1985 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers.

From 1973 to 1978, the WRC only awarded a season championship for the winning manufacturer. Scoring was given for the highest placing entry for each manufacturer. Thus if a particular manufacturer was to place 2nd, 4th, and 10th, they would receive points for 2nd place only. However, the manufacturer would still gain an advantage in scoring from its other entries, as the points for the 4th and 10th place entries would be denied to other manufacturers.

Calendar

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Alpine-Renault won the championship with the A110

For the first ever World Rally Championship, there were thirteen rallies.

Round Rally name Surface Dates
1 Monaco Rallye Monte-Carlo Mixed (Tarmac - Snow) 19–26 January
2 Sweden Swedish Rally Snow 15–18 February
3 Portugal Rallye de Portugal Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel) 13–18 March
4 Kenya Safari Rally Gravel 19–23 April
5 Morocco Rallye du Maroc Gravel 8–13 May
6 Greece Acropolis Rally Gravel 23–28 May
7 Poland Rajd Polski Gravel 12–15 July
8 Finland 1000 Lakes Rally Gravel 3–5 August
9 Austria Österreichische Alpenfahrt Gravel 12–14 September
10 Italy Rallye Sanremo Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel) 10–13 October
11 United States Press-on-Regardless Rally Gravel 31 October–4 November
12 United Kingdom RAC Rally Gravel 17–21 November
13 France Tour de Corse Tarmac 1–2 December
Sources:[1][2]

Events

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1973 World Rally Championship event map
Black = Tarmac Brown = Gravel Blue = Snow/Ice Red = Mixed Surface
Colour Rally Surface
Gold Gravel
Silver Tarmac
Blue Snow/Ice
Bronze Mixed Surface
Round Rally name Podium finishers Statistics
Rank Driver Car Time Stages Length Starters Finishers
1 Monaco Rallye Monte-Carlo
(19–26 January) — Results and report
1 France Jean-Claude Andruet Alpine Renault A110 1800 5:42:04 18 456,50 km 278 51
2 Sweden Ove Andersson Alpine Renault A110 1800 5:42:30
3 France Jean-Pierre Nicolas Alpine Renault A110 1800 5:43:39
2 Sweden Swedish Rally
(15–18 February) — Results and report
1 Sweden Stig Blomqvist Saab 96 V4 9:18:31 36 760,00 km 73 42
2 Sweden Per Eklund Saab 96 V4 9:20:53
3 France Jean-Luc Thérier Alpine Renault A110 1800 9:34:12
3 Portugal Rallye de Portugal
(13–18 March) — Results and report
1 France Jean-Luc Thérier Alpine Renault A110 1800 5:42:16 32 397,50 km 79 23
2 France Jean-Pierre Nicolas Alpine Renault A110 1800 5:48:57
3 Portugal Francisco Romãozinho Citroën DS21 6:07:48
4 Kenya Safari Rally
(19–23 April) — Results and report
1 Kenya Shekhar Mehta Datsun 240Z + 6:46 pen 56 5300.00 km 89 18
2 Sweden Harry Källström Datsun 1800 SSS + 6:46 pen
3 Sweden Ove Andersson Peugeot 504 + 8:47 pen
5 Morocco Rallye du Maroc
(8–13 May) — Results and report
1 France Bernard Darniche Alpine Renault A110 15:01:22 11 1258.00 km 66 12
2 France Bob Neyret Citroën DS23 15:20:04
3 Austria Richard Bochnicek Citroën DS23 15:34:37
6 Greece Acropolis Rally
(23–28 May) — Results and report
1 France Jean-Luc Thérier Alpine Renault A110 7:37:58 47 556.35 km 83 11
2 Finland Rauno Aaltonen Fiat Abarth 124 7:44:59
3 France Jean-Pierre Nicolas Alpine Renault A110 7:45:56
7 Poland Rajd Polski
(12–15 July) — Results and report
1 West Germany Achim Warmbold Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 8:28:14 55 742.30 km 62 3
2 East Germany Egon Culmbacher Wartburg 353 11:15:16
3 Poland Maciej Stawowiak Polski Fiat 125p 12:08:31
8 Finland 1000 Lakes Rally
(3–5 August) — Results and report
1 Finland Timo Mäkinen Ford Escort RS1600 4:53:50 43 517.20 km 109 55
2 Finland Markku Alén Volvo 142 4:55:59
3 Finland Leo Kinnunen Porsche 911 4:57:12
9 Austria Österreichische Alpenfahrt
(12–14 September) — Results and report
1 West Germany Achim Warmbold BMW 2002Tii 3:58:55 30 324.50 km 74 25
2 France Bernard Darniche Alpine Renault A110 4:00:10
3 Sweden Per Eklund Saab 96 V4 4:00:11
10 Italy Rallye Sanremo
(10–13 October) — Results and report
1 France Jean-Luc Thérier Alpine Renault A110 8:01:32 37 369.30 km 107 54
2 Italy Maurizio Verini Fiat Abarth 124 8:07:34
3 France Jean-Pierre Nicolas Alpine Renault A110 8:21:37
11 United States Press-on-Regardless Rally
(31 October–4 November) — Results and report
1 Canada Walter Boyce Toyota Corolla 6:58:28 85 552.61 km 58 23
2 United States Jim Walker Volvo 142S 7:22:43
3 United States John Smiskol Datsun 240Z 7:33:36
12 United Kingdom RAC Rally
(17–21 November) — Results and report
1 Finland Timo Mäkinen Ford Escort RS1600 6:47:08 80 540.02 km 198 91
2 United Kingdom Roger Clark Ford Escort RS1600 6:52:23
3 Finland Markku Alén Ford Escort RS1600 6:55:26
13 France Tour de Corse
(1–2 December) — Results and report
1 France Jean-Pierre Nicolas Alpine Renault A110 5:06:31 21 511.70 km 50 22
2 France Jean-François Piot Alpine Renault A110 5:14:37
3 France Jean-Luc Thérier Alpine Renault A110 5:18:46
Sources:[1][3]

Championship

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Points were awarded to the best placed vehicle of each manufacturer.[4]

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th 
Points 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1

Manufacturers' championship

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Pos. Manufacturer MON
Monaco
SWE
Sweden
POR
Portugal
KEN
Kenya
MAR
Morocco
GRC
Greece
POL
Poland
FIN
Finland
AUT
Austria
ITA
Italy
USA
United States
GBR
United Kingdom
FRA
France
Points
1 France Alpine-Renault 1 3 1 1 1 Ret 2 1 Ret (5) 1 147
2 Italy Fiat 7 5 4 (8) 6 2 1 (8) 6 2 (10) 84
3 United States Ford 4 9 14 7 Ret 1 4 1 4 76
4 Sweden Volvo 9 9 2 2 4 44
5 Sweden Saab 37 1 4 3 Ret 42
6 Japan Datsun 9 19 11 1 11 Ret 3 14 22 34
7 France Citroën 3 2 6 Ret 33
8 Germany BMW 17 7 13 Ret Ret 17 1 51 7 28
9 Germany Porsche 46 5 Ret Ret 3 7 22 8 27
10 Japan Toyota 23 Ret 9 Ret 8 1 12 25
11 Germany Opel 12 10 7 DSQ 11 5 13 9 Ret 6 7 25
12 Poland Polski Fiat 35 3 6 18
13 Italy Lancia 8 4 7 Ret 17
14 East Germany Wartburg 38 2 39 15
15 Germany Volkswagen 6 19 12 5 10 15
16 France Peugeot Ret 3 10 22 13
17 Japan Mitsubishi 7 4
18 Czechoslovakia Škoda 8 15 3
19 Italy Alfa Romeo 19 17 Ret 13 9 2
20 Germany Audi 51 10 10 2
Pos. Manufacturer MON
Monaco
SWE
Sweden
POR
Portugal
KEN
Kenya
MAR
Morocco
GRC
Greece
POL
Poland
FIN
Finland
AUT
Austria
ITA
Italy
USA
United States
GBR
United Kingdom
FRA
France
Points
Sources:[1][5]
  • Positions in parentheses did not count to championship totals

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "WRC 1973". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  2. ^ "1973 WRC calendar". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Season 1973 – Season statistics – Event statistics". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  4. ^ "Rule changes for 1973". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Season 1973 – Championship standings". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
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