1973 Swedish Rally
The 1973 Swedish Rally (formally the 24th International Swedish Rally) was the second round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-February around Karlstad, Sweden, the rally was the only snow and ice rally of the WRC calendar, a distinction it would keep as it remained a fixture of the WRC through the years. Only in 2007 would it finally be joined on the schedule by a second snow rally in Norway.
1973 Swedish Rally 24th International Swedish Rally | |||
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Round 2 of the 1973 World Rally Championship season
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Host country | Sweden | ||
Rally base | Karlstad, Sweden | ||
Dates run | February 15, 1973 – February 18, 1973 | ||
Stages | 36 (760 km; 470 miles) | ||
Stage surface | Snow & ice | ||
Overall distance | 1,800 km (1,100 miles) | ||
Results | |||
Overall winner | Stig Blomqvist Rolf Carlsson Saab Saab 96 V4 | ||
Crews | 73 at start, 42 at finish |
Report
In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. After the Alpine A110s dominated the earlier Monte Carlo Rally, Sweden was instead taken by Swedish drivers Stig Blomqvist and Per Eklund, both driving Swedish-built Saab 96 V4 cars. While Jean-Luc Thérier did get an Alpine onto the podium in third place, it was the only such car to finish and he was one of only two drivers not of Scandinavian nationality to complete the race.
Results
Finish | Total time |
Group | Car # | Driver | Car | Mfr. points | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | In group | ||||||
1 | 1 | 9 h : 18 m : 31 s | 1/2 | 1 | Stig Blomqvist | Saab 96 V4 | 20 |
2 | 2 | 9 h : 20 m : 53 s | 1/2 | 7 | Per Eklund | Saab 96 V4 | |
3 | 1 | 9 h : 34 m : 12 s | 4 | 11 | Jean-Luc Thérier | Alpine-Renault A110 1800 | 12 |
4 | 2 | 9 h : 37 m : 14 s | 4 | 3 | Harry Källstrom | Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF | 10 |
5 | 3 | 9 h : 40 m : 41 s | 4 | 2 | Håkan Lindberg | Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye | 8 |
6 | 3 | 9 h : 57 m : 28 s | 1/2 | 4 | Björn Waldegård | Volkswagen 1303S | 6 |
7 | 4 | 10 h : 0 m : 58 s | 1/2 | 10 | Bror Danielsson | BMW 2002 | 4 |
8 | 5 | 10 h : 35 m : 41 s | 1/2 | 18 | John Haugland | Škoda 110L | 3 |
9 | 6 | 10 h : 36 m : 42 s | 1/2 | 9 | Per-Inge Walfridsson | Volvo 142 S | 2 |
10 | 7 | 10 h : 37 m : 22 s | 1/2 | 14 | Fredrik Donner | Opel Ascona | 1 |
11 | 8 | 10 h : 38 m : 7 s | 1/2 | 33 | Stig Abrahamsson | Saab 96 V4 | |
12 | 9 | 10 h : 39 m : 23 s | 1/2 | 28 | Kjell Ivarsson | Saab 96 V4 | |
13 | 10 | 10 h : 41 m : 31 s | 1/2 | 13 | Per Tjerneld | Opel Ascona | |
14 | 11 | 10 h : 44 m : 30 s | 1/2 | 8 | Jean-Pierre Nicolas | Renault 12 Gordini | |
15 | 12 | 10 h : 49 m : 25 s | 1/2 | 52 | Sören Bergstedt | Renault 12 Gordini | |
16 | 13 | 10 h : 50 m : 3 s | 1/2 | 64 | Per Engseth | Volkswagen 1303S | |
17 | 14 | 11 h : 2 m : 52 s | 1/2 | 17 | Hans Sevelius | Alfa Romeo Giulia S | |
18 | 15 | 11 h : 6 m : 50 s | 1/2 | 47 | Jan Carlsson | Volvo 142 S | |
19 | 16 | 11 h : 8 m : 21 s | 1/2 | 16 | Egil Stenshagen | Datsun Cherry E | |
20 | 17 | 11 h : 12 m : 34 s | 1/2 | 20 | Ole Edvin Granberg | BMW 2002 | |
21 | 18 | 11 h : 16 m : 9 s | 1/2 | 38 | Erik Aaby | Opel Ascona | |
22 | 19 | 11 h : 19 m : 32 s | 1/2 | 45 | Bjørn Flygind | Opel Ascona | |
23 | 20 | 11 h : 30 m : 56 s | 1/2 | 57 | Freddy Kottulinsky | Toyota Corolla | |
24 | 21 | 11 h : 38 m : 33 s | 1/2 | 51 | Mats Andersson | Saab 96 V4 | |
25 | 22 | 11 h : 41 m : 59 s | 1/2 | 25 | Johnny Lindersson | Volvo 142 S | |
Retired | 4 | 6 | Ove Andersson | Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF | |||
Retired | 1/2 | 12 | Lars Nyström | Volkswagen 1303S | |||
Retired | 1/2 | 18 | Roger Johansson | Saab 96 V4 | |||
Retired | 1/2 | 21 | Bernard Darniche | Renault 12 Gordini |
Source: Independent WRC archive[1]
Championship standings after the event
After round 2 | Team | Season end | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Position | Points | Position | Points | |
1 | 32 | Alpine Renault | 1 | 147 |
2 | 20 | Saab | 5 | 42 |
3 | 13 | Lancia | 13 | 17 |
2 | 12 | Fiat | 2 | 84 |
6 | 10 | Ford | 3 | 76 |
7 | 6 | Volkswagen | 15 | 15 |
8 | 4 | BMW | 8 | 28 |
9 | 3 | Škoda | 18 | 3 |
10 | 2 | Datsun | 6 | 34 |
11 | 2 | Volvo | 4 | 44 |
12 | 1 | Opel | 11 | 25 |
References
- "Swedish Rally". juwra.com. Independent WRC archive. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
External links
- Official website of the World Rally Championship
- 1973 Swedish Rally Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine at Rallye-info Archived 2020-06-27 at the Wayback Machine