1973 Safari Rally

1973 Safari Rally 21st East Africa Safari Rally
Round 4 of the 1973 World Rally Championship season ← Previous event Next event →
Host country	Kenya
Rally base	Nairobi, Kenya
Dates run	April 19, 1973 – April 23, 1973
Length	5,300 km (3,300 miles)
Stage surface	Gravel
Overall distance	5,300 km (3,300 miles) (with 56 points of "time control")
Results
Overall winner	Shekhar Mehta Lofty Drews Datsun Datsun 240Z
Crews	89 at start, 18 at finish

The 1973 Safari Rally (formally the 21st East Africa Safari Rally) was the fourth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-April in central Kenya, the Safari was a markedly different rally from the other dates on the WRC schedule. About 5300 km of gravel roads comprised the course, though there were not distinct special stages as in other rallies, but instead the course was uncontrolled. The rally was considered very punishing, and thus many of the successful teams were specifically focused on it, leading to a different set of front-runners than led most other rallies. The rally was won by a local driver, Shekhar Mehta.

Report[]

In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. Like the drivers, the cars were different for Africa than for other rallies. As a result, the successful types did not mirror the results of other rallies on the circuit, and Datsun and Peugeot both made strong showings. Additionally, cars were not broken into separate groups or classes as in other rallies, so only overall results were classified. Time was not measured as the total elapsed through special stages as with other rallies, but instead a penalty was assessed at each time control for not meeting the target: total penalty time was the measure of who was in what place.

Results[]

1973 Safari Rally results

Finish	Penalty	Car #	Driver Co-driver	Car	Mfr. points
1	6 m : 46 s	1	Shekhar Mehta Lofty Drews	Datsun 240Z	20
2	6 m : 46 s	9	Harry Källström	Datsun 1800 SSS
3	8 m : 47 s	7	Ove Andersson Jean Todt	Peugeot 504	12
4	9 m : 14 s	19	Tony Fall	Datsun 1800 SSS
5	12 m : 7 s	28		Peugeot 504
6	13 m : 10 s	17		Peugeot 504
7	14 m : 3 s	20	Satwant Singh	Mitsubishi Colt Galant	4
8	14 m : 34 s	23		Fiat 125 S
9	14 m : 37 s	27	Mike Kirkland Bruce Field	Datsun 1600 SSS
10	15 m : 5 s	44		Datsun 1600 SSS
11	16 m : 16 s	18	Joginder Singh	Mitsubishi Galant
12	17 m : 57 s	15		Datsun 1800 SSS
13	18 m : 58 s			Mazda RX-2
14	19 m : 8 s	3		Ford Escort RS1600
15	20 m : 0 s			Datsun 180B
16	20 m : 12 s		David Doig	Mitsubishi Galant
17	20 m : 19 s			Datsun 1600 SSS
18	20 m : 52 s			Datsun 1600 SSS
Retired (mechanical)		2	Roger Clark	Ford Escort RS1600
Retired (mechanical)		4	Hannu Mikkola	Ford Escort RS1600
Retired (mechanical)		5	Sobiesław Zasada	Porsche 911
Retired (accident)		6	Rauno Aaltonen	Datsun 240Z
Retired (accident)		8	Bert Shankland	Peugeot 504
Retired (mechanical)		10	Björn Waldegård	Porsche 911
Retired (mechanical)		11	Edgar Herrmann	Datsun 240Z
Retired (excluded)		14		Peugeot 504
Retired (accident)		16	Timo Mäkinen	Ford Escort RS1600
Retired (mechanical)		22	Mike Doughty	Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV
Retired (mechanical)		25		Porsche 911
Retired (accident)		29		Ford Escort RS1600

Source: Independent WRC archive^[1]

Championship standings after the event[]

1973 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers points standings after round 4

After round 4		Team	Season end
Position	Points		Position	Points
1	52	Alpine Renault	1	147
2	22	Datsun	6	34
3	22	Fiat	2	84
4	20	Saab	5	42
5	13	Lancia	13	17
6	12	Citroën	7	33
	12	Peugeot	16	13
8	12	Ford	3	76
9	8	Porsche	9	27
10	6	Volkswagen	15	15
11	5	Opel	11	25
12	4	BMW	8	28
	4	Mitsubishi	17	4
11	3	Škoda	18	3
13	2	Volvo	4	44

References[]

External links[]

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