1973 Polish Rally
Encyclopedia
The 1973 Polish Rally was the 33rd running of the Rally Poland, and the seventh round of the inaugural World Rally Championship
season. Run in mid-July in southern Poland
, this marked to only year in which Poland (or any member of the Warsaw Pact
) was part of the WRC calendar. This edition was also notable for the fact that of the 62 teams which began the rally, only three completed it, a record that stands today.
In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. Despite the misfortune of most of the teams, Fiat
was able to finally gain a win for their Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye. As no other major competitors were able to complete the rally, the win was by a substantial margin, the German driver outpacing the next finisher by nearly three hours.
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-July in southern Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, this marked to only year in which Poland (or any member of the Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
) was part of the WRC calendar. This edition was also notable for the fact that of the 62 teams which began the rally, only three completed it, a record that stands today.
In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. Despite the misfortune of most of the teams, 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...
was able to finally gain a win for their Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye. As no other major competitors were able to complete the rally, the win was by a substantial margin, the German driver outpacing the next finisher by nearly three hours.
Results
| Finish | Total time |
Group | Car # | Driver Co-driver |
Car | Mfr. points |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | In group |
||||||
| 1 | 1 | 8 h : 28 m : 14 s | 4 | 4 |  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... |
 Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye |
20 |
| 2 | 1 | 11 h : 15 m : 16 s | 2 | 91 |  Egon Culmbacher Werner Ernst |
Wartburg 353 Wartburg 353 The Wartburg 353, known in some export markets as the Wartburg Knight, is a medium-sized family car, produced by East German car manufacturer Wartburg. It was the successor of the Wartburg 311, and was itself succeeded by the Wartburg 1.3.... |
15 |
| 3 | 1 | 12 h : 8 m : 31 s | 1 | 55 |  Maciej Stawowiak Jan Czyżyk |
Polski Fiat 125p Polski Fiat 125p The Polski Fiat 125p was a motor vehicle manufactured between 1967 and 1991 in People's Republic of Poland and Republic of Poland by the state-owned manufacturer Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych under a license agreement with Fiat. It was a simplified variation of the Fiat 125, with engines and... |
12 |
| Retired (excluded) | 4 | 2 | Jean-Luc Thérier Jean-Luc Thérier Jean-Luc Thérier is a French former rally driver. He was the highest scoring driver in the inaugural World Rally Championship in 1973 and the only one to win three events... Alain Mahé |
Alpine Renault A110 1800 |
|||
| Retired (mechanical) | 4 | 3 | Alcide Paganelli Ninni Russo |
Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye |
|||
| Retired (accident) | 4 | 7 | Adam Smorawiński Zbigniew Kołaczkowski |
 Porsche 911Porsche 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... |
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| Retired (time) | 2 | 12 |  Hans Britth Magnus Olsson |
Ford Capri 2600 | |||
| Retired | 2 | 21 | Marian Bień Wiesław Nicieja |
Polski Fiat 125p Polski Fiat 125p The Polski Fiat 125p was a motor vehicle manufactured between 1967 and 1991 in People's Republic of Poland and Republic of Poland by the state-owned manufacturer Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych under a license agreement with Fiat. It was a simplified variation of the Fiat 125, with engines and... |
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| Retired (time) | 2 | 23 | Jerzy Dobrzański Antoni Ryniak |
Polski Fiat 125p Polski Fiat 125p The Polski Fiat 125p was a motor vehicle manufactured between 1967 and 1991 in People's Republic of Poland and Republic of Poland by the state-owned manufacturer Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych under a license agreement with Fiat. It was a simplified variation of the Fiat 125, with engines and... |
|||
| Retired (accident) | 2 | 24 |  Stasys Brundza Anatoli Brum |
Moskvich 412 |
|||
| Retired (mechanical) | 2 | 26 | Ryszard Żyszkowski Jerzy Żyszkowski |
Polski Fiat 125p Polski Fiat 125p The Polski Fiat 125p was a motor vehicle manufactured between 1967 and 1991 in People's Republic of Poland and Republic of Poland by the state-owned manufacturer Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych under a license agreement with Fiat. It was a simplified variation of the Fiat 125, with engines and... |
|||
| Retired | 2 | 27 | Horst Rausch Jerzy Sypniewski |
BMW 2002 |
|||
| Retired | 2 | 31 | Kastytis Girdauskas Arvydas Girdauskas |
Moskvich 412 |
|||
| Retired | 2 | 34 | Krzysztof Komornicki Błażej Krupa |
Polski Fiat 125p Polski Fiat 125p The Polski Fiat 125p was a motor vehicle manufactured between 1967 and 1991 in People's Republic of Poland and Republic of Poland by the state-owned manufacturer Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych under a license agreement with Fiat. It was a simplified variation of the Fiat 125, with engines and... |
|||
| Retired | 2 | 35 | Jerzy Landsberg Marian Wangrat |
Polski Fiat 125p Polski Fiat 125p The Polski Fiat 125p was a motor vehicle manufactured between 1967 and 1991 in People's Republic of Poland and Republic of Poland by the state-owned manufacturer Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych under a license agreement with Fiat. It was a simplified variation of the Fiat 125, with engines and... |
|||
| Retired (time) | 2 | 36 | Lev Morozov Andris Kalnais |
Moskvich 412 |
|||
| Retired (accident) | 1 | 49 | Haino Sepp Tomas Bernstein |
Moskvich 412 |
|||
| Retired (time) | 1 | 57 | Evert Wesström Bo Carlsson |
 Toyota CorollaToyota Corolla The Toyota Corolla is a line of subcompact and compact cars manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota, which has become very popular throughout the world since the nameplate was first introduced in 1966. In 1997, the Corolla became the best selling nameplate in the world, with over 35 million... |
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| Retired (mechanical) | 1 | 63 | Marek Varisella Janina Jedynak |
Polski Fiat 125p Polski Fiat 125p The Polski Fiat 125p was a motor vehicle manufactured between 1967 and 1991 in People's Republic of Poland and Republic of Poland by the state-owned manufacturer Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych under a license agreement with Fiat. It was a simplified variation of the Fiat 125, with engines and... |
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Championship standings
| After round 6 | Team | Season end | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Points | Position | Points | |
| 1 | 92 | Alpine Renault |
1 | 147 |
| 2 | 63 | 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 | 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 |
| 4 | 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 |
| 5 | 20 | 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 |
| 6 | 16 |  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 |
| 7 | 15 | Wartburg |
14 | 15 |
| 8 | 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 |
| 9 | 13 | 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... |
13 | 17 |
| 10 | 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 |
| 11 | 12 | Polski Fiat Polski 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 |
| 12 | 8 | 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 |
| 13 | 5 | 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 |
| 14 | 4 | 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... |
8 | 28 |
| 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 | |
| 4 | 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 | |
| 17 | 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 |
| 18 | 2 | Toyota |
10 | 25 |
| 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
- Rally Poland
- 33 Rajd Polski at Rallybase
- Polish Rally 1973 at Jonkka's World Rally Archive
- 1973 Rally Poland, WRC Round 7 at Rallye-info