1973 Safari Rally

21st East Africa Safari Rally
Round 4 of the 1973 WRC for Manufacturers
Host country  Kenya
Rally base Nairobi, Kenya
Dates run April 19, 1973 April 23, 1973
Stage surface Gravel
Overall distance 5,300 km (3,300 mi)
Results
Overall winner Kenya Shekhar Mehta
Crews 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.

Results

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

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 France Alpine Renault 1 147
2 22 Japan Datsun 6 34
3 22 Italy Fiat 2 84
4 20 Sweden Saab 5 42
5 13 Italy Lancia 13 17
6 12 France Citroën 7 33
12 France Peugeot 16 13
8 12 United States Ford 3 76
9 8 Germany Porsche 9 27
10 6 Germany Volkswagen 15 15
11 5 Germany Opel 11 25
12 4 Germany BMW 8 28
4 Japan Mitsubishi 17 4
11 3 Czechoslovakia Škoda 18 3
13 2 Sweden Volvo 4 44

See also

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