1973 Austrian Alpine Rally
Encyclopedia
The 1973 Austrian Alpine Rally (44. Österreichische Alpenfahrt) was the 44th running of the Austrian rally, and 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.
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.
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
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.
In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. Austria hosted BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
's first ever win of the World Rally Championship, with front-runners Alpine-Renault, Saab
Saab
Saab AB is a Swedish aerospace and defence company, founded in 1937. From 1947 to 1990 it was the parent company of automobile manufacturer Saab Automobile, and between 1968 and 1995 the company was in a merger with commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania, known as Saab-Scania.-History:"Svenska...
, and Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
also making strong bids for points.
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 |  Achim WarmboldAchim Warmbold Achim Warmbold is a German former rally driver. He won the West German Rally Championship in 1971 and 1980, and scored two outright victories during the inaugural World Rally Championship season in 1973 at the Rally of Poland and Austrian Alpine Rally events.Aside from his first WRC race, his...  Jean TodtJean Todt Jean Todt was born on February 25, 1946, in Pierrefort, Cantal, France. After a successful career as a rally co-driver he made his reputation in motor sport management, first with Peugeot Talbot Sport, then with Scuderia Ferrari, before being appointed Chief Executive Officer of Ferrari from 2004... |
BMW 2002 TII |
20 |
| 2 | 1 | 4 h : 0 m : 10.1 s | 4 | 2 | Bernard Darniche Bernard Darniche Bernard Darniche is a French former rally driver. He won the European Rally Championship in 1976 and 1977 and the French Rally Championship in 1976 and 1978, each time behind the wheel of a Lancia Stratos... Alain Mahé |
Alpine-Renault A110 1800 |
15 |
| 3 | 2 | 4 h : 0 m : 11.2 s | 2 | 15 |  Per EklundPer Eklund Per Eklund, born on June 26, 1946 in Skönnerud , Eda Municipality of Värmland in Sweden, is a Rally and Rallycross driver who lives in Arvika. His nickname is "Pekka". In rallying he never made it to the very top but he has been very successful in his later rallycross career.- Saab works... Bo Reinicke |
Saab 96 V4 |
12 |
| 4 | 3 | 4 h : 1 m : 10.5 s | 2 | 16 | Björn Waldegård Björn Waldegård Björn Waldegård from Rimbo is a former Swedish rally driver, and the winner of the inaugural World Rally Championship for drivers in 1979... Hans Thorszelius |
BMW 2002 TII |
10 |
| 5 | 2 | 4 h : 1 m : 25.8 s | 4 | 11 | Jean-Pierre Nicolas Jean-Pierre Nicolas Jean-Pierre Nicolas is a retired French professional rally driver who competed mainly in the 1970s.Nicolas took five WRC event wins in the World Rally Championship... Michel Vial |
Alpine-Renault A110 1800 |
|
| 6 | 3 | 4 h : 6 m : 15.9 s | 4 | 3 | Håkan Lindberg Helmut Eisendle |
Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye |
6 |
| 7 | 4 | 4 h : 6 m : 38.3 s | 4 | 5 |  Klaus Russling Wolfgang Weiß |
Porsche 911 Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 is a luxury 2-door sports coupe made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a distinctive design, rear-engined and with independent rear suspension, an evolution of the swing axle on the Porsche 356. The engine was also air-cooled until the introduction of the Type 996 in 1998... |
4 |
| 8 | 4 | 4 h : 9 m : 5.8 s | 2 | 9 | Ove Andersson Ove Andersson Ove Andersson was a Swedish rally driver and the first head of Toyota's F1 program. His nickname was "Påven" .-Early life:... Gunnar Häggbom |
 Toyota CelicaToyota Celica The Toyota Celica name has been applied to a series of coupes made by the Japanese company Toyota. The name is ultimately derived from the Latin word coelica meaning "heavenly" or "celestial".... |
3 |
| 9 | 5 | 4 h : 10 m : 2.2 s | 2 | 17 | Herbert Grünsteidl Georg Hopf |
BMW 2002 |
|
| 10 | 6 | 4 h : 11 m : 16.9 s | 2 | 12 | Tony Fall Tony Fall Richard Anthony Fall was a British rally driver. He was born in Bradford. He began his rallying career as a club rally driver in a Mini. He was considerably better than his peers, however, and was soon spotted by the BMC team; this led to a drive in their works team alongside Paddy Hopkirk, Timo... Mike Wood |
Volkswagen 1303S |
1 |
| 11 | 7 | 4 h : 11 m : 48.5 s | 2 | 6 | Harry Källström Harry Källström Harry "Sputnik" Källström was a Swedish professional rally driver who debuted in 1957 and competed in the World Rally Championship in the 1970s. Prior to the forming of the WRC, Källström won the RAC Rally in a Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF in 1969 and 1970... Claes Billstam |
Volkswagen 1303S |
|
| 12 | 8 | 4 h : 14 m : 35.8 s | 2 | 25 | Franz Wittman Hans Siebert |
Volkswagen 1303S |
|
| 13 | 9 | 4 h : 20 m : 17.1 s | 2 | 24 | Gunnar Blomqvist Gerhard Kalnay |
Opel Ascona Opel Ascona The Opel Ascona was a mid-sized car produced by Opel. It had three generations produced from 1970 to 1988. In motorsport, the Ascona 400 rally car driven by Walter Röhrl won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in the 1982 season.... |
|
| 14 | 1 | 4 h : 35 m : 14.1 s | 1 | 27 | Vic Dietmayer |
BMW 2002 |
|
| 15 | 10 | 4 h : 48 m : 31.8 s | 2 | 47 | H. Steinwender F. Mick |
Fiat 124 Fiat 124 The Fiat 124 is a mid-sized family car produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat between 1966 and 1974. It was the replacement of the Fiat 1300 and Fiat 1500... |
|
| 16 | 2 | 4 h : 58 m : 23.7 s | 1 | 29 | Walter Zöckl Günther Böhs |
BMW 2002 |
|
| Retired (accident) | 2 | 1 | Günther Janger Harald Gottlieb |
Volkswagen 1303S |
|||
| Retired (mechanical) | 2 | 4 | Walter Röhrl Walter Röhrl Walter Röhrl is a German rally and auto racing driver, with victories for Fiat, Opel, Lancia and Audi as well as Porsche, Ford and BMW.-Career:... Jochen Berger |
Opel Ascona Opel Ascona The Opel Ascona was a mid-sized car produced by Opel. It had three generations produced from 1970 to 1988. In motorsport, the Ascona 400 rally car driven by Walter Röhrl won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in the 1982 season.... |
|||
| Retired (mechanical) | 2 | 4 | Stig Blomqvist Stig Blomqvist "Stig" Lennart Blomqvist is a Swedish rally driver. He made his international breakthrough in 1971. Driving an Audi Quattro for the Audi factory team, Blomqvist won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1984 and finished runner-up in 1985... Arne HertzArne Hertz Arne Hertz was a Swedish co-driver in motor rallying.His name first became prominent when co-driving for Stig Blomqvist , with whom he first won the RAC Rally, in 1971. With Blomqvist, in the same year, he also won the Hankiralli, the Swedish Rally and the 1000 Lakes Rally... |
Saab 96 V4 |
|||
| Retired (accident) | 4 | 10 | Raffaele Pinto Raffaele Pinto Raffaele "Lele" Pinto is a former rally driver, who won the 1974 Rally Portugal.-Career:Pinto began rallying in 1968. In 1972, he won the European Rally Championship in a Fiat 124. The following year, the World Rally Championship was run for the first time, and Pinto competed with Fiat, winning... Arnaldo Bernacchini |
Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye |
|||
| Retired (mechanical) | 4 | 14 | Alcide Paganelli Ninni Russo |
Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye |
|||
| Retired | 4 | 19 | Walter Roser Erich Bazalka |
Alpine-Renault A110 1600 |
|||
| Retired (mechanical) | 2 | 21 | Richard Bochnicek Sepp-Dieter Kernmayer |
Citroën DS 23 |
|||
Championship standings
| After round 8 | Team | Season end | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Points | Position | Points | |
| 1 | 107 | Alpine Renault |
1 | 147 |
| 2 | 69 | Fiat Fiat FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli... |
2 | 84 |
| 3 | 42 | Saab Saab Automobile Saab Automobile AB, better known as Saab , is a Swedish car manufacturer owned by Dutch automobile manufacturer Swedish Automobile NV, formerly Spyker Cars NV. It is the exclusive automobile Royal Warrant holder as appointed by the King of Sweden... |
5 | 42 |
| 4 | 36 |  FordFord Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
3 | 76 |
| 5 | 33 | Citroën Citroën Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that... |
7 | 33 |
| 6 | 24 |  BMWBMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands... |
8 | 28 |
| 7 | 24 | Porsche Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry.... |
9 | 27 |
| 8 | 22 | Datsun Datsun Datsun was an automobile marque. The name was created in 1931 by the DAT Motorcar Co. for a new car model, spelling it as "Datson" to indicate its smaller size when compared to the existing, larger DAT car. Later, in 1933 after Nissan Motor Co., Ltd... |
6 | 34 |
| 9 | 19 | Volvo Volvo Cars Volvo Car Corporation, or Volvo Personvagnar AB, is a Swedish automobile manufacturer founded in 1927, in Gothenburg, Sweden. It is owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. Volvo was originally formed as a subsidiary company to the ball bearing maker SKF. When Volvo AB was introduced on the Swedish... |
4 | 44 |
| 10 | 15 |  Wartburg |
14 | 15 |
| 11 | 15 | Lancia Lancia Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer founded in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and which became part of the Fiat Group in 1969. The company has a long history of producing distinctive cars and also has a strong rally heritage. Some modern Lancias are seen as presenting a more... |
15 | 15 |
| 12 | 14 | Volkswagen Volkswagen Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is... |
15 | 15 |
| 13 | 13 | Peugeot Peugeot Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion... |
16 | 13 |
| 14 | 13 | Opel Opel Adam Opel AG, generally shortened to Opel, is a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1862. Opel has been building automobiles since 1899, and became an Aktiengesellschaft in 1929... |
11 | 25 |
| 15 | 12 |  Polski FiatPolski Fiat Polski Fiat was a Polish car brand. Under this brand, cars under licence of the Italian manufacturer FIAT were manufactured or assembled in Poland.-Before World War II:... |
12 | 18 |
| 16 | 5 | Toyota |
10 | 25 |
| 17 | 4 | Mitsubishi Mitsubishi Motors is a multinational automaker headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. In 2009 it was the fifth-largest Japan-based automaker and the 17th-largest in the world measured by production... |
17 | 4 |
| 18 | 3 |  ŠkodaŠkoda Auto Škoda Auto , more commonly known as Škoda, is an automobile manufacturer based in the Czech Republic. Škoda became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group in 2000, positioned as the entry brand to the group... |
18 | 3 |
| 19 | 1 | Audi Audi Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group.... |
20 | 2 |
See also
- 1973 World Rally Championship season
- Austrian Alpine Rally
- 44. Österreichische Alpenfahrt at Rallybase
- Austria 1973 at Jonkka's World Rally Archive
- 1973 Rally of Finland, WRC Round 8 at Rallye-info