1973 World Rally Championship

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   Rallye Monte-Carlo Mixed (Tarmac - Snow) 19–26 January
2   Swedish Rally Snow 15–18 February
3   Rallye de Portugal Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel) 13–18 March
4   Safari Rally Gravel 19–23 April
5   Rallye du Maroc Gravel 8–13 May
6   Acropolis Rally Gravel 23–28 May
7   Rajd Polski Gravel 12–15 July
8   1000 Lakes Rally Gravel 3–5 August
9   Österreichische Alpenfahrt Gravel 12–14 September
10   Rallye Sanremo Mixed (Tarmac - Gravel) 10–13 October
11   Press-on-Regardless Rally Gravel 31 October–4 November
12   RAC Rally Gravel 17–21 November
13   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   Rallye Monte-Carlo
(19–26 January) — Results and report
1   Jean-Claude Andruet Alpine Renault A110 1800 5:42:04 18 456,50 km 278 51
2   Ove Andersson Alpine Renault A110 1800 5:42:30
3   Jean-Pierre Nicolas Alpine Renault A110 1800 5:43:39
2   Swedish Rally
(15–18 February) — Results and report
1   Stig Blomqvist Saab 96 V4 9:18:31 36 760,00 km 73 42
2   Per Eklund Saab 96 V4 9:20:53
3   Jean-Luc Thérier Alpine Renault A110 1800 9:34:12
3   Rallye de Portugal
(13–18 March) — Results and report
1   Jean-Luc Thérier Alpine Renault A110 1800 5:42:16 32 397,50 km 79 23
2   Jean-Pierre Nicolas Alpine Renault A110 1800 5:48:57
3   Francisco Romãozinho Citroën DS21 6:07:48
4   Safari Rally
(19–23 April) — Results and report
1   Shekhar Mehta Datsun 240Z + 6:46 pen 56 5300.00 km 89 18
2   Harry Källström Datsun 1800 SSS + 6:46 pen
3   Ove Andersson Peugeot 504 + 8:47 pen
5   Rallye du Maroc
(8–13 May) — Results and report
1   Bernard Darniche Alpine Renault A110 15:01:22 11 1258.00 km 66 12
2   Bob Neyret Citroën DS23 15:20:04
3   Richard Bochnicek Citroën DS23 15:34:37
6   Acropolis Rally
(23–28 May) — Results and report
1   Jean-Luc Thérier Alpine Renault A110 7:37:58 47 556.35 km 83 11
2   Rauno Aaltonen Fiat Abarth 124 7:44:59
3   Jean-Pierre Nicolas Alpine Renault A110 7:45:56
7   Rajd Polski
(12–15 July) — Results and report
1   Achim Warmbold Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 8:28:14 55 742.30 km 62 3
2   Egon Culmbacher Wartburg 353 11:15:16
3   Maciej Stawowiak Polski Fiat 125p 12:08:31
8   1000 Lakes Rally
(3–5 August) — Results and report
1   Timo Mäkinen Ford Escort RS1600 4:53:50 43 517.20 km 109 55
2   Markku Alén Volvo 142 4:55:59
3   Leo Kinnunen Porsche 911 4:57:12
9   Österreichische Alpenfahrt
(12–14 September) — Results and report
1   Achim Warmbold BMW 2002Tii 3:58:55 30 324.50 km 74 25
2   Bernard Darniche Alpine Renault A110 4:00:10
3   Per Eklund Saab 96 V4 4:00:11
10   Rallye Sanremo
(10–13 October) — Results and report
1   Jean-Luc Thérier Alpine Renault A110 8:01:32 37 369.30 km 107 54
2   Maurizio Verini Fiat Abarth 124 8:07:34
3   Jean-Pierre Nicolas Alpine Renault A110 8:21:37
11   Press-on-Regardless Rally
(31 October–4 November) — Results and report
1   Walter Boyce Toyota Corolla 6:58:28 85 552.61 km 58 23
2   Jim Walker Volvo 142S 7:22:43
3   John Smiskol Datsun 240Z 7:33:36
12   RAC Rally
(17–21 November) — Results and report
1   Timo Mäkinen Ford Escort RS1600 6:47:08 80 540.02 km 198 91
2   Roger Clark Ford Escort RS1600 6:52:23
3   Markku Alén Ford Escort RS1600 6:55:26
13   Tour de Corse
(1–2 December) — Results and report
1   Jean-Pierre Nicolas Alpine Renault A110 5:06:31 21 511.70 km 50 22
2   Jean-François Piot Alpine Renault A110 5:14:37
3   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
 
SWE
 
POR
 
KEN
 
MAR
 
GRC
 
POL
 
FIN
 
AUT
 
ITA
 
USA
 
GBR
 
FRA
 
Points
1   Alpine-Renault 1 3 1 1 1 Ret 2 1 Ret (5) 1 147
2   Fiat 7 5 4 (8) 6 2 1 (8) 6 2 (10) 84
3   Ford 4 9 14 7 Ret 1 4 1 4 76
4   Volvo 9 9 2 2 4 44
5   Saab 37 1 4 3 Ret 42
6   Datsun 9 19 11 1 11 Ret 3 14 22 34
7   Citroën 3 2 6 Ret 33
8   BMW 17 7 13 Ret Ret 17 1 51 7 28
9   Porsche 46 5 Ret Ret 3 7 22 8 27
10   Toyota 23 Ret 9 Ret 8 1 12 25
11   Opel 12 10 7 DSQ 11 5 13 9 Ret 6 7 25
12   Polski Fiat 35 3 6 18
13   Lancia 8 4 7 Ret 17
14   Wartburg 38 2 39 15
15   Volkswagen 6 19 12 5 10 15
16   Peugeot Ret 3 10 22 13
17   Mitsubishi 7 4
18   Škoda 8 15 3
19   Alfa Romeo 19 17 Ret 13 9 2
20   Audi 51 10 10 2
Pos. Manufacturer MON
 
SWE
 
POR
 
KEN
 
MAR
 
GRC
 
POL
 
FIN
 
AUT
 
ITA
 
USA
 
GBR
 
FRA
 
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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