1973 Rothmans 5000 European Championship Explained

The 1973 Rothmans 5000 European Championship^{[1] [2] [3]} was a motor racing series for Formula 5000 cars.^[4] The series was organized in the United Kingdom by the British Racing and Sports Car Club but also incorporated European rounds.^[5] It was the fifth in an annual sequence of European Formula 5000 Championships,^[4] and the first to be contested as the Rothmans 5000 European Championship. The 1973 championship was won by Teddy Pilette, driving a McLaren M18 and a Chevron B24.^[6]

The championship was open to Formula 5000 cars, which were defined for this series as single-seater cars using production based engines.^[7] Significant changes to the technical regulations were made for 1973.^[4] Engines from 2750cc to 5000cc capacity were now permitted, regardless of the number of cylinders.^[4] Engines with a capacity of between 4000cc and 5000cc were still required to use pushrod operated valve gear, however engines of less than 4000cc capacity could use unrestricted valve gear and could be turbocharged.^[4]

Calendar

The championship was contested over fifteen rounds.^[5]

Round	Name^[8]	Circuit	Date	Winning driver	Car
1	Brands Hatch Rothmans F5000	Brands Hatch	17 March	Peter Gethin
2	Mallory Park Rothmans F5000	Mallory Park	1 April	Graham McRae
3	GKN Vanwall Trophy	Silverstone	7 April	David Hobbs	Lola T330 Chevrolet
4	Snetterton Rothmans F5000	Snetterton	20 April	Brett Lunger
5	Brands Hatch Rothmans F5000	Brands Hatch	23 April	Steve Thompson	Chevron B24 Chevrolet
6	Oulton Park Rothmans F5000	Oulton Park	13 May	Teddy Pilette
7	Mallory Park Rothmans F5000	Mallory Park	28 May	Keith Holland
8		Misano	10 June	Cancelled following practice^[9]
9		Zandvoort	1 July	Cancelled before practice^[10]
10	Mallory Park Rothmans F5000	Mallory Park	8 July	Brett Lunger
11	Dublin Grand Prix	Mondello Park	22 July	Keith Holland	Trojan T101 Chevrolet
12		Silverstone	5 August	Cancelled following practice^[11]
13	Brands Hatch Rothmans F5000	Brands Hatch	27 August	Teddy Pilette	Chevron B24 Chevrolet
14	Rothmans Gold Cup	Oulton Park	9 September	Peter Gethin
15	Jyllandsringen Rothmans F5000	Jyllands-Ringen	23 September	Ian Ashley
16	Duinen Trophee	Zandvoort	30 September	Guy Edwards
17	Snetterton Rothmans F5000	Snetterton	7 October	Bob Evans	Trojan T101 Chevrolet
18	Brands Hatch Rothmans F5000	Brands Hatch	21 October	Guy Edwards

Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the first ten places at each of the first seventeen rounds and on a 40-30-24-20-16-12-8-6-4-2 basis for the first ten places at the final round.^[4]

Championship standings

Position	Driver	Car	Entrant	Points
1	Teddy Pilette	McLaren M18 Chevrolet Chevron B24 Chevrolet	Racing Team VDS	136
2	Tony Dean	Chevron B24 Chevrolet	Anglo-American Racing	133
3	Keith Holland	Trojan T101 Chevrolet Lola T190 Chevrolet	Ian Ward Racing	116
4	Steve Thompson	Chevron B24 Chevrolet	Servis Appliances Racing	114
5	Guy Edwards	Lola T330 Chevrolet	John Butterworth	102
6	Tom Belso	Lola T330 Chevrolet	ShellSPORT Luxembourg	97
7	Brett Lunger	Lola T330 Chevrolet Trojan T101 Chevrolet	Hogan Racing Ltd Sid Taylor	95
8	Peter Gethin	Chevron B24 Chevrolet	Chevron Racing Anglo-American Racing	65
9	Bob Evans		Alan McKechnie Racing	64
10	Gijs van Lennep	Lola T330 Chevrolet	ShellSPORT Luxembourg	59
11	Clive Santo	Surtees TS11 Chevrolet Lola T330 Chevrolet	ShellSPORT Luxembourg	50
12	Ian Ashley	Lola T330 Chevrolet	Doug Hardwick	37
13	David Hobbs	Lola T330 Chevrolet	Hogan Racing Ltd	29
14	Graham McRae	McRae GM1 Chevrolet McRae GM2 Chevrolet	Iberia Team McRae	28
=	David Oxton	Begg FM5 Chevrolet	GN Begg Engineering	28
16	John Watson		Hexagon Racing	24
17	Chris Craft	McLaren M18 Chevrolet Chevron B24 Chevrolet	Racing Team VDS	23
=	Bob Brown	Chevron B24 Chevrolet	Anglo-American Racing	23
19	Brian Robertson		Anglo-American Racing	15
20	Ray Allen	Surtees TS8 Chevrolet Lola T330 Chevrolet	Servis Appliances Racing ShellSPORT Luxembourg	12
21	Jock Russell		Jock Russell	7
22	Jac Nellemann	McLaren M18 Chevrolet	Sheridan Thynne	6
=	Alan Rollinson		Alan Rollinson	6
24	Tony Trimmer	McLaren M18 Chevrolet Lola T330 Chevrolet	Sheridan Thynne ShellSPORT Luxembourg	5
=	Willie Green	Trojan T101 Chevrolet	Hexagon Racing	5
26	Damien Magee	Trojan T101 Chevrolet	Hexagon Racing	4
27	Richard Knight	Kitchmac Chevrolet		3
28	John Gunn	March 73A Chevrolet		2
=	Clive Baker	McLaren M10B Chevrolet	Clive Baker	2
30	Arie Luyendijk	McLaren M18 Chevrolet	Sheridan Thynne	1
=	Chris Featherstone	Lola T190 Chevrolet	Chris Featherstone	1

References

1. Programme, Rothmans 5000 European Championship, Mallory Park, Sunday 1 April 1973
2. Programme, Rothmans 5000 European Championship, Grote Prijs van Zandvoort, 30-9-1973
3. Official Programme, Rothmans 5000 European Championship, Brands Hatch, 20/21 October 1973
4. Wolfgang Kopfler, Formula 5000 in Europe - Race by Race, 2004
5. http://www.oldracingcars.com/results/racelist.php?CategoryID=F5 European Formula 5000 races 1969-1977, www.oldracingcars.com
6. Wolfgang Kopfler, 1973 Rothmans European Formula 5000 Championship, Formula 5000 in Europe - Race by Race, 2004, pages 114 to 116
7. Event 1, The Rothmans 5000 European Championship Race (entry list), Programme, Mallory Park, 8 July 1973
8. http://jpgleize.perso.neuf.fr/gp/gb5mod.htm F5000 championship races in Europe, jpgleize.perso.neuf.fr
9. http://www.oldracingcars.com/results/result.php?RaceID=E73H "Rothmans F5000 Championship round, Misano, 10 Jun 1973", www.oldracingcars.com
10. Brian Phillips, Two races cancelled, and now its F5000 action at last, Programme, Mallory Park, 8 July 1973, page 3
11. http://www.oldracingcars.com/results/result.php?RaceID=E73L "Rothmans F5000 Championship round, Silverstone, 5 Aug 1973", www.oldracingcars.com