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 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 # DriverCo-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 Claes Billstam Datsun 1800 SSS 3 8 m : 47 s 7 Ove Andersson Jean Todt Peugeot 504 12 4 9 m : 14 s 19 Tony Fall Mike Wood Datsun 1800 SSS 5 12 m : 7 s 28 Peter Huth John McConnell Peugeot 504 6 13 m : 10 s 17 Hugh Lionnet Phillip Hechle Peugeot 504 7 14 m : 3 s 20 Satwant Singh John Mitchell Mitsubishi Colt Galant 4 8 14 m : 34 s 23 Robin Ulyate Ivan Smith Fiat 125 S 9 14 m : 37 s 27 Mike Kirkland Bruce Field Datsun 1600 SSS 10 15 m : 5 s 44 Jim Noon Rager Barnard Datsun 1600 SSS 11 16 m : 16 s 18 Joginder Singh Tim Samuels Mitsubishi Galant 12 17 m : 57 s 15 Zully Remtulla Nizar Jivani Datsun 1800 SSS 13 18 m : 58 s Pat Neylan Lofty Reynolds Mazda RX-2 14 19 m : 8 s 3 Vic Preston Jr. Bev Smith Ford Escort RS1600 15 20 m : 0 s Brian Barton Chris Flyer Datsun 180B 16 20 m : 12 s Davinder Singh David Doig Mitsubishi Galant 17 20 m : 19 s Ewart Walker Anton Levitan Datsun 1600 SSS 18 20 m : 52 s John Rose Steve Rose Datsun 1600 SSS Retired (mechanical) 2 Roger Clark Jim Porter Ford Escort RS1600 Retired (mechanical) 4 Hannu Mikkola John Davenport Ford Escort RS1600 Retired (mechanical) 5 Sobiesław Zasada Marian Bień Porsche 911 Retired (accident) 6 Rauno Aaltonen Paul Easter Datsun 240Z Retired (accident) 8 Bert Shankland Chris Bates Peugeot 504 Retired (mechanical) 10 Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius Porsche 911 Retired (mechanical) 11 Edgar Herrmann Hans Schüller Datsun 240Z Retired (excluded) 14 Perre Parsons Jim Cowper Peugeot 504 Retired (accident) 16 Timo Mäkinen Henry Liddon Ford Escort RS1600 Retired (mechanical) 22 Jack Simonian Mike Doughty Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV Retired (mechanical) 25 Bill Fritschy Kim Mandeville Porsche 911 Retired (accident) 29 Peter Shikuyah Kim Gatende Ford Escort RS1600 Source: Independent WRC archive
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