1973 1000 Lakes Rally

1973 1000 Lakes Rally 23rd 1000 Lakes Rally
Round 8 of the 1973 World Rally Championship season
Host country	Finland
Rally base	Jyväskylä, Finland
Dates run	3 August 1973 – 5 August 1973
Stages	43 (517 km; 321 miles)
Stage surface	Gravel
Overall distance	2,079 km (1,292 miles)
Results
Overall winner	Timo Mäkinen Ford Motor Company Ltd
Crews	109 at start, 55 at finish

The 1973 1000 Lakes Rally (formally the 23rd 1000 Lakes Rally) was the 23rd running of the 1000 Lakes Rally (currently known as the Rally Finland), and the eighth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season.

Report[]

Run in early August in central Finland, this rally marked a distinct change from the previous event in the series, the 33 Rajd Polski. Unlike that event, in which only three teams survived to the finish, Finland saw 55 teams finish the rally, a success rate of almost exactly 50% of the total entries.

In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. Finland hosted Ford Motor Company's first ever win of the World Rally Championship.^[1] Championship front runners Alpine Renault and Fiat were conspicuous by their absence, with neither gaining points during the round.

Results[]

1973 1000 Lakes Rally results

Finish		Total time	Group	Car #	Driver Co-driver	Car	Mfr. points
Overall	In group
1	1	4 h : 53 m : 50 s	2	4	Timo Mäkinen	Ford Escort RS1600	20
2	2	4 h : 55 m : 59 s	2	29	Markku Alén	Volvo 142	15
3	1	4 h : 57 m : 12 s	4	3	Leo Kinnunen	Porsche 911	12
4	3	4 h : 59 m : 28 s	2	1	Simo Lampinen	Saab 96 V4	10
5	4	5 h : 3 m : 30 s	2	30		Opel Ascona 19	8
6	5	5 h : 4 m : 3 s	2	38	Ulf Grönholm	Opel Ascona 19
7	6	5 h : 5 m : 43 s	2	26		Saab 96 V4
8	2	5 h : 9 m : 43 s	4	122	Achim Warmbold Jean Todt	Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
9	7	5 h : 11 m : 26 s	2	39	Pertti Lehtonen	Saab 96 V4
10	8	5 h : 11 m : 36 s	2	12		Opel Ascona 19
11	9	5 h : 14 m : 25 s	2	20		Opel Ascona 19
12	10	5 h : 18 m : 23 s	2	24		Volvo 142
13	1	5 h : 18 m : 52 s	1	50		Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV
14	2	5 h : 22 m : 15 s	1	42		Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV
15	11	5 h : 23 m : 35 s	2	21		Škoda 120S
16	12	5 h : 23 m : 49 s	2	7		Morris Marina
17	3	5 h : 24 m : 47 s	1	52		BMW 2002
18	13	5 h : 30 m : 54 s	2	63		Volvo 142
19	4	5 h : 38 m : 54 s	1	44		Opel Ascona 19
20	5	5 h : 44 m : 41 s	1	73		Opel Ascona 19
21	6	5 h : 45 m : 4 s	1	58		BMW 2002
22	7	5 h : 46 m : 5 s	1	51		Peugeot 304S
23	8	5 h : 48 m : 14 s	1	53		Alfa Romeo 1600
24	14	5 h : 50 m : 52 s	2	61		Opel Ascona 19
27	16	5 h : 55 m : 7 s	2	86		Moskvitch 412
39	22	6 h : 16 m : 10 s	2	96		Wartburg 353
42	17	6 h : 22 m : 8 s	1	79		Wartburg 353
46	21	6 h : 27 m : 27 s	1	77		Wartburg 353
Retired (mechanical)			2	2	Stig Blomqvist Arne Hertz	Saab 96 V4
Retired (illness)			2	5	Hannu Mikkola	Volvo 142
Retired (mechanical)			4	6	Shekhar Mehta	Datsun 240Z
Retired (mechanical)			2	8	Per Eklund Björn Cederberg	Saab 96 V4
Retired			2	9	Pauli Toivonen	Simca 1000 Rallye
Retired			1	10	Guy Chasseuil	Simca 1000 Rallye
Retired			1	11		Simca 1000 Rallye
Retired			2	13		Volvo 142
Retired			2	15		Opel Ascona 19
Retired			2	16		Datsun 1800 SSS
Retired			2	18		Moskvitch 1500M
Retired (mechanical)			2	22	Pentti Airikkala	Opel Kadett Rallye
Retired			2	25	Paul Faulkner	Ford Escort RS1600
Retired			2	27		Dodge Colt
Retired (mechanical)			2	28		Saab 96 V4
Retired			2	33		BMW 2002
Retired			2	35		Opel Commodore GS/E
Retired			2	36		Volvo 142
Retired			2	40		Opel Ascona 19
Retired			1	46		Opel Ascona 19
Retired			1	47	Kyösti Hämäläinen	Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV
Retired			1	48		BMW 2002
Retired			1	57		BMW 2002
Retired			2	67		Opel Ascona 19
Retired			2	76		Moskvitch 412

Source: Independent WRC archive^[2]

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	92	Alpine Renault	1	147
2	63	Fiat	2	84
3	36	Ford	3	76
4	33	Citroën	7	33
5	30	Saab	5	42
6	22	Datsun	6	34
7	20	Porsche	9	27
8	19	Volvo	4	44
9	15	Wartburg	14	15
10	14	Volkswagen	15	15
11	13	Peugeot	16	13
12	13	Lancia	13	17
13	13	Opel	11	25
14	12	Polski Fiat	12	18
15	4	BMW	8	28
	4	Mitsubishi	17	4
17	3	Škoda	18	3
18	2	Toyota	10	25
19	1	Audi	20	2

References[]

External links[]

• Official website of the World Rally Championship
• 1973 1000 Lakes Rally at Rallye-info