The 1973 Polish Rally, formally known as the 33rd Polish Rally, was the seventh round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Held in mid-July in southern Poland, this event marked the only year in which Poland, or any member of the Warsaw Pact, was included in the WRC calendar until 2009, 36 years later. This edition is also notable for the fact that out of the 62 teams that started the rally, only three completed it, a record that still stands today.
Report In 1973, and for several subsequent years, points were only awarded to manufacturers for their finishes in WRC events. Despite the misfortune experienced by most teams, Fiat secured its first win for the Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye. Since no other major competitors finished the rally, Fiat's win was by a significant margin, with the German driver outpacing the next finisher by nearly three hours.
Results 1973 Polish Rally results Finish Totaltime Group Car # DriverCo-driver Car Mfr.points Overall Ingroup 1 1 8 h : 28 m : 14 s 4 4 Achim Warmbold Jean Todt Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 20 2 1 11 h : 15 m : 16 s 2 91 Egon Culmbacher Werner Ernst Wartburg 353 15 3 1 12 h : 8 m : 31 s 1 55 Maciej Stawowiak Jan Czyżyk Polski Fiat 125p 12 Retired (Excluded) 4 2 Jean-Luc Thérier Alain Mahé Alpine Renault A110 1800 Retired (Oil Pressure) 4 3 Alcide Paganelli Ninni Russo Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye Retired (Accident) 4 7 Adam Smorawiński Zbigniew Kołaczkowski Porsche 911 Retired (Time limit exceeded) 2 12 Hans Britth Magnus Olsson Ford Capri 2600 Retired 2 18 Janusz Wojtyna Romana Wojtyna BMW 2002 Ti Retired 2 20 Henryk Kaczmarczyk Miecyzsław Banaś Polski Fiat 125p Retired (Water pump) 2 21 Marian Bień Wiesław Nicieja Polski Fiat 125p Retired 2 22 Ewald Pauli Jacek Jurczak Volkswagen Käfer 1302 S Retired (Time limit exceeded) 2 23 Jerzy Dobrzański Antoni Ryniak Polski Fiat 125p Retired (Accident) 2 24 Stasys Brundza Anatoli Brum Moskvich 412 Retired 2 25 Andrzej Turczyński Leon Grzybek Polski Fiat 125p Retired (Tailgate joint) 2 26 Ryszard Żyszkowski Jerzy Żyszkowski Polski Fiat 125p Retired 2 27 Horst Rausch Jerzy Sypniewski BMW 2002 Retired 2 28 András Tar Ferenc Simon Polski Fiat 125p Retired 2 30 Dieter Rosenfeldt Hans Herff Renault 12 Gordini Retired 2 31 Kastytis Girdauskas Arvydas Girdauskas Moskvich 412 Retired (Rear differential) 2 34 Krzysztof Komornicki Błażej Krupa Polski Fiat 125p Retired 2 35 Jerzy Landsberg Marian Wangrat Polski Fiat 125p Retired (time) 2 36 Lev Morozov Andris Kalnais Moskvich 412 Retired 2 37 Poul Weinreich Holger Møllen-Nielsen Opel Ascona 1.6 SR Retired 1 42 Oluf Vester Kristensen Holm-Per Sandager Volvo 142 GL Retired 2 43 Jan Dziedzic Wiesław Pieprzak Polski Fiat 125p Retired 1 44 Carl Marius Syberg Per Brøns Opel Ascona Retired 1 45 Klaus Miersch Winfried Matter Opel Ascona 1.9 SR Retired 1 46 Christian Köthe Inga Köthe Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV Retired 1 47 Jens Schmidt Adolf Holm BMW 2002 Ti Retired (Accident) 1 49 Heino Sepp Toomas Bernstein Moskvich 412 Retired 1 50 Jacques Régis Chantal Argeliès Opel Ascona Retired (Misdirection) 1 51 Włodzimierz Markowski Andrzej Radecki Polski Fiat 125p Retired 1 52 Edmund Oprocha Andrzej Orłowski Polski Fiat 125p Retired 1 53 Detelin Tomov Peitcho Peitchev Lada VAZ 2103 Retired 1 54 Jens Erik Esbensen Villy Ebbesen Datsun 1600 SSS Retired (Time limit exceeded) 1 57 Evert Wesström Bo Carlsson Toyota Corolla Retired 2 61 Andrzej Gergovich Robert Jenner SEAT 850 D Retired 2 62 Nikolai Vringov Lambo Mitzev Lada VAZ 2101 Retired (Suspension) 1 63 Marek Varisella Janina Jedynak Polski Fiat 125p Retired 2 64 Horst Hohlheimer Rudolf Huber Fiat 128 Sport Coupé Retired 2 65 Aleksander Adamski Andrzej Brzeziński Škoda 100 L Retired 2 66 Nikolai Kamburov Kamen Kokinov Renault 8 Retired 2 67 Pál Gaál Ferenc Iriczfalvi Škoda 100 Retired 2 68 Mihály Balatoni István Sándor Škoda 100 Retired 2 69 Karlfried Weigert Bernhard Malsch Wartburg 353 Retired (Breakdown) 2 70 Peter Hommel Günter Bork Wartburg 353 Retired (Accident) 2 71 Stanisław Fiedor Jacek Chmielewski Trabant P601 Retired 2 72 Jürgen Sparwald Carl-Ulrich Karsten Wartburg 353 Retired 2 73 Marek Oryński Kazimierz Bocheński FSO Syrena 104 Retired 2 74 Zbigniew Baran Julian Kuzaj FSO Syrena 104 Retired 2 75 Claes Anderson Peter Peterson Ford Escort Twin Cam Retired 2 76 Vasile Olaru Ilie Olteanu Dacia 1300 Retired 2 77 Petre Vezeanu Mircea Ilioale Dacia 1300 Retired 2 78 Adam Masłowiec Konrad Rutkowski FSM Syrena 105 Retired 1 80 Volker Beyer Werner Schramm Wartburg 353 Retired 1 81 Radoslav Petkov Kostadin Gurlev Lada VAZ 2101 Retired 1 82 Adrian Margarint Nicolas Aslan Dacia 1300 Retired 1 83 Ilija Bonev Zlati Zlatev Lada VAZ 2101 Retired 1 84 György Szenttornyay László Szzenttornyay Lada VAZ 2101 Retired 1 85 Iosif Santa Pavel Chiorcea Dacia 1300 Retired 1 86 Béla Augustin Elek Farkas Dacia 1300 Retired 1 87 Jerzy Strasz Halina Strasz Polski Fiat 125p Retired 1 89 Horst Niebergall Harald Würfel Wartburg 353 Retired 1 90 Andrzej Włoch Marec Roczniak Polski Fiat 125p Retired 1 92 Tilo Wünsch Henning Wünsch Fiat 128 Coupé
Source: Independent WRC archive, eWRC Results
Championship standings after the event 1973 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers points standings after round 7 After round 6 Team Season end Position Points Position Points 1 92 Alpine Renault 1 147 2 63 Fiat 2 84 3 33 Citroën 7 33 4 22 Datsun 6 34 5 20 Saab 5 42 6 16 Ford 3 76 7 15 Wartburg 14 15 8 14 Volkswagen 15 15 9 13 Lancia 13 17 10 13 Peugeot 16 13 11 12 Polski Fiat 12 18 12 8 Porsche 9 27 13 5 Opel 11 25 14 4 BMW 8 28 4 Mitsubishi 17 4 4 Volvo 4 44 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 Rally Poland at Rallye-info