The 1973 RAC Rally (formally the 22nd Daily Mirror RAC Rally) was the twelfth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-November in the County of Yorkshire in England, the rally was run primarily on gravel, with some sections of tarmac as well. The rally carried the name of its title sponsor, a popular British newspaper, The Daily Mirror.
Report In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. Britain was home terrain for the Fords and the RS1600 wrapped up all three podium spots. While both Alpine Renault and Fiat finished in the points, they could only count their best eight results and thus their finishes at the RAC Rally were discounted. The two nonetheless finished first and second overall in the Championship.
Results 1973 RAC Rally results Finish Totaltime Group Car # DriverCo-driver Car Mfr.points 1 6 h : 47 m : 8 s 2 13 Timo Mäkinen Henry Liddon Ford Escort RS1600 20 2 6 h : 52 m : 23 s 2 1 Roger Clark Tony Mason Ford Escort RS1600 3 6 h : 55 m : 26 s 2 18 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Ford Escort RS1600 4 7 h : 01 m : 13 s 2 31 Per-Inge Walfridsson John Jensen Volvo 142 10 5 7 h : 03 m : 08 s 4 8 Jean-Pierre Nicolas Claude Roure Alpine-Renault A110 1800 6 7 h : 05 m : 44 s 2 21 Gunnar Blomqvist Ingelöv Blomqvist Opel Ascona 19 6 7 7 h : 06 m : 14 s 2 4 Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius BMW 2002 4 8 7 h : 09 m : 19 s 2 29 Lars Carlsson Peter Peterson Opel Ascona 9 7 h : 09 m : 46 s 2 37 Tony Fowkes Bryan Harris Ford Escort RS1600 10 7 h : 10 m : 14 s 2 19 Sergio Barbasio Gino Macaluso Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 11 7 h : 10 m : 50 s 2 51 Erik Aaby Egil Moreite Opel Ascona SR 12 7 h : 11 m : 17 s 2 9 Ove Andersson Geraint Phillips Toyota Celica 13 7 h : 12 m : 37 s 2 46 Drew Gallacher Ian Muir Ford Escort RS1600 14 7 h : 14 m : 36 s 3 5 Harry Källström Claes Billstam Datsun 240Z 15 7 h : 15 m : 58 s 2 11 Achim Warmbold Jean Todt BMW 2002 TII 16 7 h : 19 m : 30 s 1 30 Bror Danielsson Ulf Sundberg BMW 2002 17 7 h : 20 m : 22 s 2 45 Colin Malkin Brian Coyle Hillman Avenger 18 7 h : 25 m : 10 s 2 44 Donald Heggie George Dean Ford Escort RS1600 19 7 h : 26 m : 02 s 2 28 Maurizio Verini Ninni Russo Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 20 7 h : 32 m : 13 s 2 54 Billy Coleman Dan O'Sullivan Ford Escort RS1600 21 7 h : 32 m : 55 s 3 71 Kevin Videan Peter Rushforth Datsun 240Z 22 7 h : 33 m : 30 s 1 52 Harold Morley Bob Lindquist Porsche 911 23 7 h : 36 m : 35 s 2 58 David Thompson Martin Welch Ford Escort RS1600 24 7 h : 38 m : 02 s 1 60 Andy Dawson Peter Valentine Hillman Avenger 25 7 h : 38 m : 07 s 2 117 Mike Jackson Ian Maxey Ford Escort RS1600 26 7 h : 39 m : 37 s 2 83 Steve Howard Richard Ward Ford Escort RS1600 27 7 h : 40 m : 33 s 1 75 John Bloxham Norman Salt Hillman Avenger 28 7 h : 40 m : 42 s 1 61 Bob Bean David Greenwood Ford Escort Mexico 29 7 h : 42 m : 02 s 4 84 Pip Dale Richard Stark Vauxhall Firenza 30 7 h : 44 m : 02 s 2 121 Edward Hurley Simon Bretherton Ford Escort RS1600 31 7 h : 46 m : 56 s 2 67 Frank Pierson Colin Francis Ford Escort RS1600 32 7 h : 48 m : 58 s 2 35 Eeva Heinonen Seija-Saaristo Kivistö Volvo 142 33 7 h : 50 m : 33 s 1 85 Ian Wilson Peter Anderson Opel Ascona 34 7 h : 51 m : 10 s 1 126 John Midgley John Forrest Toyota Corolla 35 7 h : 53 m : 51 s 1 81 Alan Conley Crawford Dunn Chrysler Avenger 36 7 h : 54 m : 23 s 2 62 Rosemary Smith Pauline Gullick Ford Escort RS1600 37 7 h : 55 m : 14 s 2 27 Shekhar Mehta Keith Wood Datsun Sunny 38 8 h : 00 m : 56 s 2 113 John Baillie Robert Baillie Ford Escort Twin Cam 39 8 h : 01 m : 50 s 1 124 Roland Young Dave Cowell Ford Escort Mexico 40 8 h : 03 m : 40 s 1 66 Philip Cooper Tony Viles Ford Escort Mexico 41 8 h : 05 m : 04 s 1 102 David Hardcastle David West Opel Ascona SR 42 8 h : 06 m : 18 s 2 154 Murray Grierson Roger Anderson Ford Escort Mexico 43 8 h : 06 m : 55 s 2 142 Stanley Griffin Christine Foster Ford Escort RS1600 44 8 h : 12 m : 37 s 2 176 Norman Anstiss John Haswell Ford Escort RS1600 45 8 h : 12 m : 45 s 2 141 John Cockerill John Lawson Ford Escort RS1600 46 8 h : 13 m : 42 s 1 59 Wim Luijbregts Kees Luijbregts DAF 66 47 8 h : 17 m : 47 s 1 140 Gordon Jarvis John Bowie Chrysler Avenger 48 8 h : 19 m : 19 s 1 36 Henri Greder Peter Jopp Opel Commodore GS/E 49 8 h : 21 m : 26 s 1 131 David Finch Sidney Rudge Ford Escort GT 50 8 h : 22 m : 24 s 1 112 Wenche Knudtzen Mats Adolfsson Moskvitch 412 51 8 h : 23 m : 03 s 1 165 Ian Beveridge David Lucas Ford Escort GT 52 8 h : 24 m : 19 s 1 188 James Haslegrave Richard Frew Chrysler Avenger 53 8 h : 24 m : 33 s 2 129 Peter Warren Dylis Rogers Ford Escort Twin Cam 54 8 h : 24 m : 34 s 1 169 David Warren Edward Norman Ford Capri 3000 55 8 h : 24 m : 59 s 1 139 Les Birkett Tony Blore Morris Mini Cooper 56 8 h : 25 m : 41 s 1 174 Paul Whatmuff Jeff Forrest Opel Ascona 57 8 h : 25 m : 52 s 1 138 Chris Field Colin Goler Chrysler Avenger 58 8 h : 26 m : 38 s 1 104 Graham Booth Ian Woodruff Opel Manta 59 8 h : 26 m : 43 s 1 145 Peter Doughty Richard Shelmedine Ford Escort GT 60 8 h : 26 m : 54 s 1 97 Per Sandager-Holm Jan Warkentin Volvo 61 8 h : 27 m : 03 s 4 118 Jean-Marie Didi Alain Lopes Fiat 124 Spider 62 8 h : 31 m : 04 s 1 78 Peter Hommel Günter Bork Wartburg 353 63 8 h : 31 m : 45 s 1 149 Jim Clark