1973 Australian Touring Car Championship
The 1973 Australian Touring Car Championship was the 14th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship. It began at Symmons Plains on 5 March 1973 and ended at Warwick Farm after eight rounds. The series was won by Allan Moffat in a Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III.
The night before Round 6 of the series at the Adelaide International Raceway, Moffat's GTHO Falcon was stolen from Stillwell Ford in the northern Adelaide suburb of Medindie. Rather than see Moffat out of the race (he was the series points leader at the time having won the opening 4 rounds and finishing 3rd in round 5), Murray Carter loaned Moffat his GTHO Falcon for the race. Peter Brock won the race while Moffat kept his points lead by finishing second. Moffat's stolen Falcon was later found abandoned in the Adelaide Hills where the thieves who had taken it for a "joy ride" dumped it when it ran out of fuel.
Teams and drivers[]
The following drivers competed in the 1973 ATCC. The series consisted of eight rounds held in six different states.
Sponsor | Car | No | Driver |
---|---|---|---|
Holden Dealer Team | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 1 | Peter Brock |
Grace Bros/Exacto Tape | Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 1 | Ian Geoghegan |
Holden Dealer Team | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 2 | Peter Brock |
Shell Racing | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | 3 | Murray Carter |
Dick Johnson | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 4 | Dick Johnson |
McLeod Ford | Ford XA Falcon GT Hardtop | 5 | John Goss |
Fred Gibson | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | 6 | Fred Gibson |
Bob Jane | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 7 | Bob Jane |
Ansett/Motorcraft/BP | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | 9 | Allan Moffat |
Grace Bros/Exacto Tape | Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 10 | Ian Geoghegan |
Holden Dealer Team | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 11 | Peter Brock |
Ron Hodgson Motors | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 11 | Bob Morris |
Bob Holden | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 13 | Bob Holden |
Peter Robinson Motors Lilydale | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 14 | |
John Stoopman | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 15 | |
Graeme Blanchard | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 16 | |
Bryan Thomson | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 17 | |
Ted Mudie | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 18 | |
Cessnock Motor Works | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 19 | Allan Grice |
Rod McRae | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 20 | |
Phil Barnes | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 21 | Phil Barnes |
Phillip Lyon | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 23 | |
Holden Dealer Team | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 24 | Colin Bond |
Graham Parsons | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 25 | |
Lakis Manticas | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 27 | |
Stuart Saker | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 29 | |
Don Holden | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 30 | |
Gary Cooke | Mazda RX-3 | 31 | |
Graham Ryan | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 32 | |
Ken Loughan | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 34 | |
Alan Cant | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 37 | |
John Duggan | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 39 | |
John French | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | 44 | John French |
Rod Housego | Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 45 | |
Lyndon Arnel | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 47 | |
Geoff Leeds | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 49 | |
Tony Farrell | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 52 | |
Barry Bassingthwaite | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 57 | |
Strapp Ford Doncaster/Marlboro | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 58 | |
David Jamieson | Ford Mustang | 60 | David Jamieson |
Campbell Lambert | Morris Cooper S | 61 | |
Tony Watts | Morris Cooper S | 62 | |
Colin Pawson | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 63 | |
Westland Autos | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | 64 | |
Werner Tulipan | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 66 | |
Peter Granger | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 67 | |
John Dellaca | Morris Cooper S | 69 | |
Rod Miles | Morris Clubman GT | 72 | |
Stewart McLeod | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 73 | |
Gary Keen | Mazda RX-3 | 75 | |
Total/Castrol/TAA | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 | 76 | Bob Jane |
Garry Rowe | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 77 | |
Martin Anderson | Morris Cooper S | 78 | |
Jim Stewart | Morris Cooper S | 79 | |
Brett Keightley | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 80 | |
Elemer Vajda | Subaru 1300 | 81 | |
Eric Olsen | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 83 | |
Paul Gulson | Fiat 128 Coupe | 85 | |
Tony Allen | Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 87 | |
Lawrie Nelson | Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 88 | Lawrie Nelson |
John Piper | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 90 | |
Mel McEwin | Toyota Corolla | 91 | |
Keith McCloy | Morris Cooper S | 94 | |
Rod Boyle | Morris Cooper S | 95 | |
Graeme Adams | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 96 | |
Bill Nitschke | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 97 | |
World of Tyres | Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 98 | |
Alfred Colledge | Morris Cooper S | 99 | |
John Lewis | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 101 | |
Paul Moore | Toyota Corolla | 102 | Paul Moore |
Rod Morris | Morris Cooper S | 107 | Rod Morris |
Neil Nunting | Toyota Corolla | 111 | |
Motorama/Castrol GTX | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 154 |
Calendar[]
The 1973 Australian Touring Car Championship consisted of eight rounds.[1]
Rd. | Race title | Circuit | City / state | Date | Winner | Team | Report |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Symmons Plains | Symmons Plains Raceway | Launceston, Tasmania | 5 March | Allan Moffat | Ford Works Team | |
2 | Calder | Calder Park Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 18 March | Allan Moffat | Ford Works Team | |
3 | Sandown | Sandown International Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 15 April | Allan Moffat | Ford Works Team | |
4 | Wanneroo | Wanneroo Park | Perth Western Australia | 6 May | Allan Moffat | Ford Works Team | |
5 | Surfers Paradise | Surfers Paradise International Raceway | Surfers Paradise, Queensland | 20 May | Peter Brock | Holden Dealer Team | |
6 | Datsun Trophy[2] | Adelaide International Raceway | Adelaide, South Australia | 10 June | Peter Brock | Holden Dealer Team | |
7 | Oran Park | Oran Park Raceway | Sydney, New South Wales | 24 June | Allan Moffat | Ford Works Team | |
8 | Warwick Farm | Warwick Farm Raceway | Sydney, New South Wales | 15 July | Peter Brock | Holden Dealer Team |
Drivers Championship[]
Points were awarded 4-3-2-1 for the first four race positions, and then 9-6-4-3-2-1 for the top 6 of each class.
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References[]
- ^ V8 Central website
- ^ "1973 Australian Touring Car Championship Programmes". The Programme Covers Project. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- Australian Touring Car Championship seasons
- 1973 in Australian motorsport