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.Motoring News pages 8 & 9 Thursday 9 August 1973 "Popular 1000 Lakes win for Mäkinen in works Escort" 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 Totaltime Group Car # DriverCo-driver Car Mfr.points Overall Ingroup 1 1 4 h : 53 m : 50 s 2 4 Timo Mäkinen Henry Liddon Ford Escort RS1600 20 2 2 4 h : 55 m : 59 s 2 29 Markku Alén Juhani Toivonen Volvo 142 15 3 1 4 h : 57 m : 12 s 4 3 Leo Kinnunen Atso Aho Porsche 911 12 4 3 4 h : 59 m : 28 s 2 1 Simo Lampinen John Davenport Saab 96 V4 10 5 4 5 h : 3 m : 30 s 2 30 Antti Ojanen Heikki Miikki Opel Ascona 19 8 6 5 5 h : 4 m : 3 s 2 38 Ulf Grönholm Henry Laine Opel Ascona 19 7 6 5 h : 5 m : 43 s 2 26 Tapio Rainio Erkki Nyman 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 Ilkka Kivimäki Saab 96 V4 10 8 5 h : 11 m : 36 s 2 12 Hannu Palin Jyrki Ahava Opel Ascona 19 11 9 5 h : 14 m : 25 s 2 20 Esa Nuuttila Alf Krogell Opel Ascona 19 12 10 5 h : 18 m : 23 s 2 24 Erkki Pitkänen Juhani Paalama Volvo 142 13 1 5 h : 18 m : 52 s 1 50 Pertti Kärhä Seppo Siitonen Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV 14 2 5 h : 22 m : 15 s 1 42 Jaakko Markula Asko Nevalainen Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV 15 11 5 h : 23 m : 35 s 2 21 Markku Saaristo Ilkka Saaristo Škoda 120S 16 12 5 h : 23 m : 49 s 2 7 Brian Culcheth Johnstone Syer Morris Marina 17 3 5 h : 24 m : 47 s 1 52 Timo Sohlberg Matti Honkavaara BMW 2002 18 13 5 h : 30 m : 54 s 2 63 Eeva Heinonen Seija Saaristo Volvo 142 19 4 5 h : 38 m : 54 s 1 44 Erkki Pahkinen Jarmo Toivonen Opel Ascona 19 20 5 5 h : 44 m : 41 s 1 73 Timo Jouhki Juha Piironen Opel Ascona 19 21 6 5 h : 45 m : 4 s 1 58 Juha Leponiemi Matti Vilmi BMW 2002 22 7 5 h : 46 m : 5 s 1 51 Kauko Mäkelä Jukka Miettinen Peugeot 304S 23 8 5 h : 48 m : 14 s 1 53 Hans Sevelius Göran Sandström Alfa Romeo 1600 24 14 5 h : 50 m : 52 s 2 61 Marketta Oksala Satu Valtaharju Opel Ascona 19 27 16 5 h : 55 m : 7 s 2 86 Stasys Brundza Viktor Ilyin Moskvitch 412 39 22 6 h : 16 m : 10 s 2 96 Peter Hommel Günter Bork Wartburg 353 42 17 6 h : 22 m : 8 s 1 79 Horst Niebergall Harald Würfel Wartburg 353 46 21 6 h : 27 m : 27 s 1 77 Egon Culmbacher Werner Ernst Wartburg 353 Retired (mechanical) 2 2 Stig Blomqvist Arne Hertz Saab 96 V4 Retired (illness) 2 5 Hannu Mikkola Erkki Rautanen Volvo 142 Retired (mechanical) 4 6 Shekhar Mehta Ensio Mikander Datsun 240Z Retired (mechanical) 2 8 Per Eklund Björn Cederberg Saab 96 V4 Retired 2 9 Pauli Toivonen Martti Tiukkanen Simca 1000 Rallye Retired 1 10 Guy Chasseuil Christian Baron Simca 1000 Rallye Retired 1 11 Jean-Marie Jacquemin Dorothé Jacquemin Simca 1000 Rallye Retired 2 13 Pekka Virtanen Jussi Eskola Volvo 142 Retired 2 15 Matti Alamaula Tapio Siekkinen Opel Ascona 19 Retired 2 16 Bob Hourihan Doug Woods Datsun 1800 SSS Retired 2 18 Pekka Vilpponen Ilpo Airila Moskvitch 1500M Retired (mechanical) 2 22 Pentti Airikkala Heikki Haaksiala Opel Kadett Rallye Retired 2 25 Paul Faulkner Monty Peters Ford Escort RS1600 Retired 2 27 Scott Harvey Tom King Dodge Colt Retired (mechanical) 2 28 Jari Vilkas Juhani Soini Saab 96 V4 Retired 2 33 Leif Asterhag Claes Billstam BMW 2002 Retired 2 35 Lars Carlsson Thomas Fischer-Halbing Opel Commodore GS/E Retired 2 36 Eero Soutulahti Risto Anttila Volvo 142 Retired 2 40 Hannu Valtaharju Raimo Alm Opel Ascona 19 Retired 1 46 Esko Nuuttila Timo Harju Opel Ascona 19 Retired 1 47 Kyösti Hämäläinen Veijo Aho Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV Retired 1 48 Arne Allansson Rolf Jägerstedt BMW 2002 Retired 1 57 Heikki Enomaa Timo Alanen BMW 2002 Retired 2 67 Fredrik Donner Heikki Nikki Opel Ascona 19 Retired 2 76 Kastytis Girdauskas Valentin Kislykh Moskvitch 412 Source: Independent WRC archive
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