1973 Press-on-Regardless Rally

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25th Press-on-Regardless Rally
Round 11 of the 1973 WRC for Manufacturers
Host country Flag of the United States United States
Rally base Detroit, Michigan
Dates run 31 October 19734 November 1973
Stages 85
Stage surface Gravel
Overall distance 2735 km
Results
Overall winner Flag of Canada Walter Boyce
Teams 58 at start, 23 at finish


The 1973 Press-on-Regardless Rally was the 25th running of the American rally, and the eleventh round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run at the outset of November in the State of Michigan in the United States, the rally was run entirely on gravel.

Due to a combination of scheduling and location, the event was not attended by most European competitors. Giving teams only two weeks following the preceding Sanremo Rally to travel across the Atlantic Ocean, and then giving even less time for a return to Europe for the following RAC Rally in England, proved unrealistic for most teams, and in the event, only a few teams from Poland made the trip with their domestic Polski Fiat 125p vehicles. As it turned out, the event was primarily a local affair, with a Canadian, Walter Boyce, taking the win ahead of a field of American drivers.

In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. With the teams focused on the prestigious RAC Rally upcoming, and with the year's championship already sewn up by Alpine Renault, the works teams did not make an effort to compete in the American leg of the championship. Toyota became the beneficiary as it was a Corolla that carried Boyce to victory, while other makes popular on the North American market filled out the ranks. Datsuns were particularly prevalent--especially the locally popular Datsun 510--and Polski Fiat was rewarded for their effort in making the trip by a finish in the points, but overall, the results factored little into the factory efforts for the championship.

Contents

[edit] Results

1973 25th Press-on-Regardless Rally
Finish Total
time
Car # Driver
Co-driver
Car Mfr.
points
1 6 h : 58 m : 28.2 s 110 Flag of Canada Walter Boyce
Flag of Canada Doug Woods
Flag of Japan Toyota Corolla 20
2 7 h : 22 m : 43.2 s 116 Flag of the United States Jim Walker
Flag of the United States Terry Palmer
Flag of Sweden Volvo 142 S 15
3 7 h : 33 m : 36.0 s 105 Flag of the United States John Smiskol
Flag of the United States Carol Smiskol
Flag of Japan Datsun 240Z 12
4 7 h : 39 m : 1.8 s 114 Flag of the United States John Buffum
Flag of the United States Wayne Zitkus
Flag of the United States Ford Escort RS1600 10
5 7 h : 45 m : 0.6 s 127 Flag of the United States John Rodgers
Flag of the United States Erik Brooks
Flag of Japan Datsun 1600 SSS
6 7 h : 57 m : 30.6 s 108 Flag of Poland Robert Mucha
Flag of Poland Ryszard Żyszkowski
Flag of Poland Polski Fiat 125p 6
7 8 h : 5 m : 4.6 s 123 Flag of the United States Bill Dodd
Flag of the United States Rudy Kren
Flag of the United States Ford Capri 2600
8 8 h : 8 m : 12.0 s 130 Flag of the United States Jim Callon
Flag of the United States Gary Hays
Flag of Japan Datsun 510
9 8 h : 9 m : 28.2 s 136 Flag of the United States Steve Dorr
Flag of the United States Rick Andersson
Flag of Japan Datsun 510
10 8 h : 16 m : 12.6 s 121 Flag of the United States Chuck McLaren
Flag of the United States Doug Leverton
Flag of Japan Datsun 510
11 122 Flag of the United States John Chalmers
Flag of the United States William Potvin
Flag of Japan Datsun 510
12 8 h : 20 m : 47.4 s 117 Flag of Poland Andrzej Jaroszewicz
Flag of Poland Zbigniew Dziadura
Flag of Poland Polski Fiat 125p
13 113 Flag of Canada Gary Neil
Flag of Canada Don Ramsay
Flag of Japan Datsun 1600 SSS
14 8 h : 35 m : 58.8 s 160 Flag of Kenya Edgar Herrmann
Flag of the United States Joe LeBeau
Flag of Japan Subaru GL
15 8 h : 39 m : 10.8 s 120 Flag of Poland Marek Varisella
Flag of Poland Janina Jedynak
Flag of Poland Polski Fiat 125p
Retired (accident) 104 Flag of Canada Taisto Heinonen
Flag of Canada John Bellefleur
Flag of Germany Opel Manta
Retired (mechanical) 106 Flag of the United States Erhard Dahm
Flag of the United States Tom Grishaw
Flag of the United States Jeep Wagoneer
Retired (mechanical) 107 Flag of the United States Gene Henderson
Flag of the United States Ken Pogue
Flag of the United States Jeep Wagoneer
Retired (excluded) 109 Flag of the United States Scott Harvey
Flag of the United States Ralph Backman
Flag of the United States Dodge Colt
Retired (accident) 112 Flag of the United States Bob Hourihan
Flag of the United Kingdom Geraint Phillips
Flag of Japan Datsun 1800 SSS

[edit] Championship standings

1973 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers points standings after round 11
After round 11 Team Season end
Position Points Position Points
1 127 Flag of France Alpine Renault 1 147
2 84 Flag of Italy Fiat 2 84
3 46 Flag of the United States Ford 3 76
4 42 Flag of Sweden Saab 5 42
5 34 Flag of Japan Datsun 6 34
6 34 Flag of Sweden Volvo 4 44
7 33 Flag of France Citroën 7 33
8 25 Flag of Japan Toyota 10 25
9 24 Flag of Germany BMW 8 28
10 24 Flag of Germany Porsche 9 27
11 18 Flag of Poland Polski Fiat 12 18
12 17 Flag of Italy Lancia 13 17
13 15 Flag of the German Democratic Republic Wartburg 14 15
14 15 Flag of Germany Opel 11 25
15 14 Flag of Germany Volkswagen 15 15
16 13 Flag of France Peugeot 16 13
17 4 Flag of Japan Mitsubishi 17 4
18 3 Flag of Czechoslovakia Škoda 18 3
19 1 Flag of Germany Audi 20 2

[edit] See also

World Rally Championship
Current season summary

2008 WRC season

Related articles

World Rally Car
Group A · Group B
Super 1600 · Super 2000
Production World Rally Championship
Junior World Rally Championship

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