Eisspeedway

1973 Austrian Alpine Rally

1973 Austrian Rally
44. Austrian Alpine Rally
Round 9 of the 1973 World Rally Championship season
← Previous eventNext event →
Host country Austria
Rally baseBaden, Austria
Dates run12 September 1973 – 14 September 1973
Stages27 (310 km; 190 miles)
Stage surfaceGravel
Overall distance2,233 km (1,388 miles)
Statistics
Crews74 at start, 25 at finish
Overall results
Overall winnerGermany Achim Warmbold
France Jean Todt
Germany BMW
BMW 2002 TII

The 1973 Austrian Rally (formally the 44. Austrian Alpine Rally) was the ninth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-September around Baden, Austria, the rally was entirely on gravel surface special stages. 1973 would be the only year to see the WRC hold an event in Austria, despite the strong presence of Austrian drivers in the series through the present.

Report

In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. Austria hosted BMW's first ever win of the World Rally Championship, with front-runners Alpine-Renault, Saab, and Fiat also making strong bids for points.

Results

1973 Austrian Rally results
Finish Total
time
Group Car # Driver
Co-driver
Car Mfr.
points
Overall In
group
1 1 3 h : 58 m : 55.5 s 2 8 West Germany Achim Warmbold
France Jean Todt
West Germany BMW 2002 TII 20
2 1 4 h : 0 m : 10.1 s 4 2 France Bernard Darniche
France Alain Mahé
France Alpine-Renault A110 1800 15
3 2 4 h : 0 m : 11.2 s 2 15 Sweden Per Eklund
Sweden Bo Reinicke
Sweden Saab 96 V4 12
4 3 4 h : 1 m : 10.5 s 2 16 Sweden Björn Waldegård
Sweden Hans Thorszelius
West Germany BMW 2002 TII 10
5 2 4 h : 1 m : 25.8 s 4 11 France Jean-Pierre Nicolas
France Michel Vial
France Alpine-Renault A110 1800
6 3 4 h : 6 m : 15.9 s 4 3 Sweden Håkan Lindberg
Italy Helmut Eisendle
Italy Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 6
7 4 4 h : 6 m : 38.3 s 4 5 Austria Klaus Russling
Austria Wolfgang Weiß
West Germany Porsche 911 4
8 4 4 h : 9 m : 5.8 s 2 9 Sweden Ove Andersson
Sweden Gunnar Häggbom
Japan Toyota Celica 3
9 5 4 h : 10 m : 2.2 s 2 17 Austria Herbert Grünsteidl
Austria Georg Hopf
West Germany BMW 2002
10 6 4 h : 11 m : 16.9 s 2 12 United Kingdom Tony Fall
United Kingdom Mike Wood
West Germany Volkswagen 1303S 1
11 7 4 h : 11 m : 48.5 s 2 6 Sweden Harry Källström
Sweden Claes Billstam
West Germany Volkswagen 1303S
12 8 4 h : 14 m : 35.8 s 2 25 Austria Franz Wittman
Austria Hans Siebert
West Germany Volkswagen 1303S
13 9 4 h : 20 m : 17.1 s 2 24 Sweden Gunnar Blomqvist
Austria Gerhard Kalnay
West Germany Opel Ascona
14 1 4 h : 35 m : 14.1 s 1 27 Austria Vic Dietmayer West Germany BMW 2002
15 10 4 h : 48 m : 31.8 s 2 47 Austria H. Steinwender
Austria F. Mick
Italy Fiat 124
16 2 4 h : 58 m : 23.7 s 1 29 Austria Walter Zöckl
Austria Günther Böhs
West Germany BMW 2002
Retired (accident) 2 1 Austria Günther Janger
Austria Harald Gottlieb
West Germany Volkswagen 1303S
Retired (mechanical) 2 4 West Germany Walter Röhrl
West Germany Jochen Berger
West Germany Opel Ascona
Retired (mechanical) 2 4 Sweden Stig Blomqvist
Sweden Arne Hertz
Sweden Saab 96 V4
Retired (accident) 4 10 Italy Raffaele Pinto
Italy Arnaldo Bernacchini
Italy Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
Retired (mechanical) 4 14 Italy Alcide Paganelli
Italy Ninni Russo
Italy Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
Retired 4 19 Austria Walter Roser
Austria Erich Bazalka
France Alpine-Renault A110 1600
Retired (mechanical) 2 21 Austria Richard Bochnicek
Austria Sepp-Dieter Kernmayer
France Citroën DS 23

Source: Independent WRC archive[1]

Championship standings after the event

1973 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers points standings after round 8
After round 8 Team Season end
Position Points Position Points
1 107 France Alpine Renault 1 147
2 69 Italy Fiat 2 84
3 42 Sweden Saab 5 42
4 36 United States Ford 3 76
5 33 France Citroën 7 33
6 24 Germany BMW 8 28
7 24 Germany Porsche 9 27
8 22 Japan Datsun 6 34
9 19 Sweden Volvo 4 44
10 15 East Germany Wartburg 14 15
11 14 Germany Volkswagen 15 15
12 13 Italy Lancia 13 17
13 13 France Peugeot 16 13
14 13 Germany Opel 11 25
15 12 Poland Polski Fiat 12 18
16 5 Japan Toyota 10 25
17 4 Japan Mitsubishi 17 4
18 3 Czechoslovakia Škoda 18 3
19 1 Germany Audi 20 2

References

  1. ^ "Austrian Rally". juwra.com. Independent WRC archive. Retrieved 2017-03-15.