1973 Safari Rally

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21st East Africa Safari Rally
Round 4 of the 1973 WRC for Manufacturers
Host country Flag of Kenya Kenya
Rally base Nairobi, Kenya
Dates run April 19, 1973April 23, 1973
Stage surface Gravel
Overall distance 5300 km
Results
Overall winner Flag of Kenya Shekhar Mehta
Teams 89 at start, 18 at finish


The 1973 East African Safari Rally was the 21st running of the Safari Rally, and the fourth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-April in central Kenya, the Safari was a markedly different rally from the other dates on the WRC schedule. About 5300 km of gravel roads comprised the course, though there were not distinct special stages as in other rallies, but instead the course was uncontrolled. The rally was considered very punishing, and thus many of the successful teams were specifically focused on it, leading to a different set of front-runners than led most other rallies. The rally was won by a local driver, Shekhar Mehta.

In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. Like the drivers, the cars were different for Africa than for other rallies. As a result, the successful types did not mirror the results of other rallies on the circuit, and Datsun and Peugeot both made strong showings. Additionally, cars were not broken into separate groups or classes as in other rallies, so only overall results were classified. Time was not measured as the total elapsed through special stages as with other rallies, but instead a penalty was assessed at each time control for not meeting the target: total penalty time was the measure of who was in what place.

Contents

[edit] Results

1973 21st East African Safari Rally final results
Finish Penalty Car # Driver
Co-driver
Car Mfr.
points
1 6 m : 46 s 1 Flag of Kenya Shekhar Mehta
Flag of Kenya Lofty Drews
Flag of Japan Datsun 240Z 20
2 6 m : 46 s 9 Flag of Sweden Harry Källström
Flag of Sweden Claes Billstam
Flag of Japan Datsun 1800 SSS
3 8 m : 47 s 7 Flag of Sweden Ove Andersson
Flag of France Jean Todt
Flag of France Peugeot 504 12
4 9 m : 14 s 19 Flag of the United Kingdom Tony Fall
Flag of the United Kingdom Mike Wood
Flag of Japan Datsun 1800 SSS
5 12 m : 7 s 28 Flag of Kenya Peter Huth
Flag of Kenya John McConnell
Flag of France Peugeot 504
6 13 m : 10 s 17 Flag of Kenya Hugh Lionnet
Flag of Kenya Phillip Hechle
Flag of France Peugeot 504
7 14 m : 3 s 20 Flag of Zambia Satwant Singh
Flag of Zimbabwe John Mitchell
Flag of Japan Mitsubishi Colt Galant 4
8 14 m : 34 s 23 Flag of Kenya Robin Ulyate
Flag of Kenya Ivan Smith
Flag of Italy Fiat 125 S
9 14 m : 37 s 27 Flag of Kenya Mike Kirkland
Flag of Kenya Bruce Field
Flag of Japan Datsun 1600 SSS
10 15 m : 5 s 44 Flag of Kenya Jim Noon
Flag of the United Kingdom Rager Barnard
Flag of Japan Datsun 1600 SSS
11 16 m : 16 s 18 Flag of Kenya Joginder Singh
Flag of Kenya Tim Samuels
Flag of Japan Mitsubishi Galant
12 17 m : 57 s 15 Flag of Tanzania Zully Remtulla
Flag of Tanzania Nizar Jivani
Flag of Japan Datsun 1800 SSS
13 18 m : 58 s Flag of Kenya Pat Neylan
Flag of Kenya Lofty Reynolds
Flag of Japan Mazda RX-2
14 19 m : 8 s 3 Flag of Kenya Vic Preston Jr.
Flag of the United Kingdom Bev Smith
Flag of the United Kingdom Ford Escort RS1600
15 20 m : 0 s Flag of Kenya Brian Barton
Flag of Kenya Chris Flyer
Flag of Japan Datsun 180B
16 20 m : 12 s Flag of Kenya Davinder Singh
Flag of Kenya David Doig
Flag of Japan Mitsubishi Galant
17 20 m : 19 s Flag of Kenya Ewart Walker
Flag of Kenya Anton Levitan
Flag of Japan Datsun 1600 SSS
18 20 m : 52 s Flag of Kenya John Rose
Flag of Kenya Steve Rose
Flag of Japan Datsun 1600 SSS
Retired (mechanical) 2 Flag of the United Kingdom Roger Clark
Flag of the United Kingdom Jim Porter
Flag of the United Kingdom Ford Escort RS1600
Retired (mechanical) 4 Flag of Finland Hannu Mikkola
Flag of the United Kingdom John Davenport
Flag of the United Kingdom Ford Escort RS1600
Retired (mechanical) 5 Flag of Poland Sobiesław Zasada
Flag of Poland Marian Bień
Flag of Germany Porsche 911
Retired (accident) 6 Flag of Finland Rauno Aaltonen
Flag of the United Kingdom Paul Easter
Flag of Japan Datsun 240Z
Retired (accident) 8 Flag of Tanzania Bert Shankland
Flag of Kenya Chris Bates
Flag of France Peugeot 504
Retired (mechanical) 10 Flag of Sweden Björn Waldegård
Flag of Sweden Hans Thorszelius
Flag of Germany Porsche 911
Retired (mechanical) 11 Flag of Kenya Edgar Herrmann
Flag of Germany Hans Schüller
Flag of Japan Datsun 240Z
Retired (excluded) 14 Flag of Kenya Perre Parsons
Flag of Kenya Jim Cowper
Flag of France Peugeot 504
Retired (accident) 16 Flag of Finland Timo Mäkinen
Flag of the United Kingdom Henry Liddon
Flag of the United Kingdom Ford Escort RS1600
Retired (mechanical) 22 Flag of Kenya Jack Simonian
Flag of Kenya Mike Doughty
Flag of Italy Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV
Retired (mechanical) 25 Flag of the United Kingdom Bill Fritschy
Flag of Kenya Kim Mandeville
Flag of Germany Porsche 911
Retired (accident) 29 Flag of Kenya Peter Shikuyah
Flag of Kenya Kim Gatende
Flag of the United Kingdom Ford Escort RS1600

[edit] Championship standings

1973 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers points standings after round 4
After round 4 Team Season end
Position Points Position Points
1 52 Flag of France Alpine Renault 1 147
2 22 Flag of Japan Datsun 6 34
3 22 Flag of Italy Fiat 2 84
4 20 Flag of Sweden Saab 5 42
5 13 Flag of Italy Lancia 13 17
6 12 Flag of France Citroën 7 33
12 Flag of France Peugeot 16 13
8 12 Flag of the United States Ford 3 76
9 8 Flag of Germany Porsche 9 27
10 6 Flag of Germany Volkswagen 15 15
11 5 Flag of Germany Opel 11 25
12 4 Flag of Germany BMW 8 28
4 Flag of Japan Mitsubishi 17 4
11 3 Flag of Czechoslovakia Škoda 18 3
13 2 Flag of Sweden Volvo 4 44

[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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