1973 Austrian Alpine Rally

The 1973 Austrian Rally (formally the 44. Austrian Alpine Rally) was the ninth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-September around Baden, Austria, the rally was entirely on gravel surface special stages. 1973 would be the only year to see the WRC hold an event in Austria, despite the strong presence of Austrian drivers in the series through the present.

1973 Austrian Rally 44. Austrian Alpine Rally
Round 9 of the 1973 World Rally Championship season ← Previous event Next event →
Host country	Austria
Rally base	Baden, Austria
Dates run	12 September 1973 – 14 September 1973
Stages	27 (310 km; 190 miles)
Stage surface	Gravel
Overall distance	2,233 km (1,388 miles)
Statistics
Crews	74 at start, 25 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Achim Warmbold Jean Todt BMW BMW 2002 TII

Report

In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. Austria hosted BMW's first ever win of the World Rally Championship, with front-runners Alpine-Renault, Saab, and Fiat also making strong bids for points.

Results

1973 Austrian Rally results

Finish		Total time	Group	Car #	Driver Co-driver	Car	Mfr. points
Overall	In group
1	1	3 h : 58 m : 55.5 s	2	8	Achim Warmbold Jean Todt	BMW 2002 TII	20
2	1	4 h : 0 m : 10.1 s	4	2	Bernard Darniche Alain Mahé	Alpine-Renault A110 1800	15
3	2	4 h : 0 m : 11.2 s	2	15	Per Eklund Bo Reinicke	Saab 96 V4	12
4	3	4 h : 1 m : 10.5 s	2	16	Björn Waldegård Hans Thorszelius	BMW 2002 TII	10
5	2	4 h : 1 m : 25.8 s	4	11	Jean-Pierre Nicolas Michel Vial	Alpine-Renault A110 1800
6	3	4 h : 6 m : 15.9 s	4	3	Håkan Lindberg Helmut Eisendle	Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye	6
7	4	4 h : 6 m : 38.3 s	4	5	Klaus Russling Wolfgang Weiß	Porsche 911	4
8	4	4 h : 9 m : 5.8 s	2	9	Ove Andersson Gunnar Häggbom	Toyota Celica	3
9	5	4 h : 10 m : 2.2 s	2	17	Herbert Grünsteidl Georg Hopf	BMW 2002
10	6	4 h : 11 m : 16.9 s	2	12	Tony Fall Mike Wood	Volkswagen 1303S	1
11	7	4 h : 11 m : 48.5 s	2	6	Harry Källström Claes Billstam	Volkswagen 1303S
12	8	4 h : 14 m : 35.8 s	2	25	Franz Wittman Hans Siebert	Volkswagen 1303S
13	9	4 h : 20 m : 17.1 s	2	24	Gunnar Blomqvist Gerhard Kalnay	Opel Ascona
14	1	4 h : 35 m : 14.1 s	1	27	Vic Dietmayer	BMW 2002
15	10	4 h : 48 m : 31.8 s	2	47	H. Steinwender F. Mick	Fiat 124
16	2	4 h : 58 m : 23.7 s	1	29	Walter Zöckl Günther Böhs	BMW 2002
Retired (accident)			2	1	Günther Janger Harald Gottlieb	Volkswagen 1303S
Retired (mechanical)			2	4	Walter Röhrl Jochen Berger	Opel Ascona
Retired (mechanical)			2	4	Stig Blomqvist Arne Hertz	Saab 96 V4
Retired (accident)			4	10	Raffaele Pinto Arnaldo Bernacchini	Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
Retired (mechanical)			4	14	Alcide Paganelli Ninni Russo	Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
Retired			4	19	Walter Roser Erich Bazalka	Alpine-Renault A110 1600
Retired (mechanical)			2	21	Richard Bochnicek Sepp-Dieter Kernmayer	Citroën DS 23

Source: Independent WRC archive^[1]

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	107	Alpine Renault	1	147
2	69	Fiat	2	84
3	42	Saab	5	42
4	36	Ford	3	76
5	33	Citroën	7	33
6	24	BMW	8	28
7	24	Porsche	9	27
8	22	Datsun	6	34
9	19	Volvo	4	44
10	15	Wartburg	14	15
11	14	Volkswagen	15	15
12	13	Lancia	13	17
13	13	Peugeot	16	13
14	13	Opel	11	25
15	12	Polski Fiat	12	18
16	5	Toyota	10	25
17	4	Mitsubishi	17	4
18	3	Škoda	18	3
19	1	Audi	20	2