1973 World Rally Championship Explained

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.

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Calendar

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

RoundRally nameSurfaceDates
1 Rallye Monte-CarloMixed (Tarmac - Snow)19–26 January
2 Swedish RallySnow15–18 February
3 Rallye de PortugalMixed (Tarmac - Gravel)13–18 March
4 Safari RallyGravel19–23 April
5 Rallye du MarocGravel8–13 May
6 Acropolis RallyGravel23–28 May
7 Rajd PolskiGravel12–15 July
8 1000 Lakes RallyGravel3–5 August
9 Österreichische AlpenfahrtGravel12–14 September
10 Rallye SanremoMixed (Tarmac - Gravel)10–13 October
11 Press-on-Regardless RallyGravel31 October–4 November
12 RAC RallyGravel17–21 November
13 Tour de CorseTarmac1–2 December
Sources:[1] [2]

Events

+ align=center style="background:#BFD7FF"1973 World Rally Championship event mapalign=center colspan=4
width=25% Black = Tarmacwidth=25% Brown = Gravelwidth=25% Blue = Snow/Icewidth=25% Red = Mixed Surface
ColourRally Surface
GoldGravel
SilverTarmac
BlueSnow/Ice
BronzeMixed Surface
RoundRally namePodium finishersStatistics
RankDriverCarTimeStagesLength StartersFinishers
1 Rallye Monte-Carlo
(19–26 January) — Results and report		align=center 1 Jean-Claude AndruetAlpine Renault A110 1800align=center 5:42:0418456,50 km27851
align=center 2 Ove AnderssonAlpine Renault A110 1800align=center 5:42:30
align=center 3 Jean-Pierre NicolasAlpine Renault A110 1800align=center 5:43:39
2 Swedish Rally
(15–18 February) — Results and report		align=center 1 Stig BlomqvistSaab 96 V4align=center 9:18:3136760,00 km7342
align=center 2 Per EklundSaab 96 V4align=center 9:20:53
align=center 3 Jean-Luc ThérierAlpine Renault A110 1800align=center 9:34:12
3 Rallye de Portugal
(13–18 March) — Results and report		align=center 1 Jean-Luc ThérierAlpine Renault A110 1800align=center 5:42:1632397,50 km7923
align=center 2 Jean-Pierre NicolasAlpine Renault A110 1800align=center 5:48:57
align=center 3 Francisco RomãozinhoCitroën DS21align=center 6:07:48
4 Safari Rally
(19–23 April) — Results and report		align=center 1 Shekhar MehtaDatsun 240Zalign=center + 6:46 pen565300.00 km8918
align=center 2 Harry KällströmDatsun 1800 SSSalign=center + 6:46 pen
align=center 3 Ove AnderssonPeugeot 504align=center + 8:47 pen
5 Rallye du Maroc
(8–13 May) — Results and report		align=center 1 Bernard DarnicheAlpine Renault A110align=center 15:01:22111258.00 km6612
align=center 2 Bob NeyretCitroën DS23align=center 15:20:04
align=center 3 Richard BochnicekCitroën DS23align=center 15:34:37
6 Acropolis Rally
(23–28 May) — Results and report		align=center 1 Jean-Luc ThérierAlpine Renault A110align=center 7:37:5847556.35 km8311
align=center 2 Rauno AaltonenFiat Abarth 124align=center 7:44:59
align=center 3 Jean-Pierre NicolasAlpine Renault A110align=center 7:45:56
7 Rajd Polski
(12–15 July) — Results and report		align=center 1 Achim WarmboldFiat Abarth 124 Rallyealign=center 8:28:1455742.30 km623
align=center 2 Egon CulmbacherWartburg 353align=center 11:15:16
align=center 3 Maciej StawowiakPolski Fiat 125palign=center 12:08:31
8 1000 Lakes Rally
(3–5 August) — Results and report		align=center 1 Timo MäkinenFord Escort RS1600align=center 4:53:5043517.20 km10955
align=center 2 Markku AlénVolvo 142align=center 4:55:59
align=center 3 Leo KinnunenPorsche 911align=center 4:57:12
9 Österreichische Alpenfahrt
(12–14 September) — Results and report		align=center 1 Achim WarmboldBMW 2002Tiialign=center 3:58:5530324.50 km7425
align=center 2 Bernard DarnicheAlpine Renault A110align=center 4:00:10
align=center 3 Per EklundSaab 96 V4align=center 4:00:11
10 Rallye Sanremo
(10–13 October) — Results and report		align=center 1 Jean-Luc ThérierAlpine Renault A110align=center 8:01:3237369.30 km10754
align=center 2 Maurizio VeriniFiat Abarth 124align=center 8:07:34
align=center 3 Jean-Pierre NicolasAlpine Renault A110align=center 8:21:37
11 Press-on-Regardless Rally
(31 October–4 November) — Results and report		align=center 1 Walter BoyceToyota Corollaalign=center 6:58:2885552.61 km5823
align=center 2 Jim WalkerVolvo 142Salign=center 7:22:43
align=center 3 John SmiskolDatsun 240Zalign=center 7:33:36
12 RAC Rally
(17–21 November) — Results and report		align=center 1 Timo MäkinenFord Escort RS1600align=center 6:47:0880540.02 km19891
align=center 2 Roger ClarkFord Escort RS1600align=center 6:52:23
align=center 3 Markku AlénFord Escort RS1600align=center 6:55:26
13 Tour de Corse
(1–2 December) — Results and report		align=center 1 Jean-Pierre NicolasAlpine Renault A110align=center 5:06:3121511.70 km5022
align=center 2 Jean-François PiotAlpine Renault A110align=center 5:14:37
align=center 3 Jean-Luc ThérierAlpine Renault A110align=center 5:18:46
Sources:[3]

Championship

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

Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th 
Points20151210864321

Manufacturers' championship

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: WRC 1973. eWRC-results.com. 15 January 2024.
  2. Web site: 1973 WRC calendar. Jonkka's World Rally Archive. 15 January 2024.
  3. Web site: Season 1973 – Season statistics – Event statistics. Jonkka's World Rally Archive. 15 January 2024.
  4. Web site: Rule changes for 1973. Jonkka's World Rally Archive. 15 January 2024.
  5. Web site: Season 1973 – Championship standings. Jonkka's World Rally Archive. 15 January 2024.

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