1973 Australian Touring Car Championship

1973 Australian Touring Car Championship
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The 1973 Australian Touring Car Championship was the 14th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship. It began at Symmons Plains on 5 March 1973 and ended at Warwick Farm after eight rounds. The series was won by Allan Moffat in a Ford Falcon GTHO Phase III.

The night before Round 6 of the series at the Adelaide International Raceway, Moffat's GTHO Falcon was stolen from Stillwell Ford in the northern Adelaide suburb of Medindie. Rather than see Moffat out of the race (he was the series points leader at the time), Murray Carter loaned Moffat his GTHO Falcon for the race. Peter Brock won the race while Moffat kept his points lead by finishing second. Moffat's stolen Falcon was later found abandoned in the Adelaide Hills where the thieves who had taken it for a "joy ride" dumped it when it ran out of fuel.

Teams and drivers

The following drivers competed in the 1973 ATCC. The series consisted of eight rounds held in six different states.

Manufacturer Car model No[1] Driver
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 1 Australia Peter Brock
Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III 3 Australia Murray Carter
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 4 Australia Dick Johnson
Ford Falcon XA GT Hardtop 5 Australia John Goss
Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III 6 Australia Fred Gibson
Holden
Chevrolet
Torana LJ GTR XU-1
Camaro ZL-1
7 Australia Bob Jane
Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III 9 Canada Allan Moffat
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 11 Australia Bob Morris
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 12 Australia Rod McRae
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 16 Australia Graeme Blanchard
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 17 Australia Bryan Thomson
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 30 Australia Don Holland
Ford Mustang 351 60 Australia David Jamieson
Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 88 Australia Lawrie Nelson
Ford Escort Twin-Cam Australia Lyndon Arnell
Ford Escort Twin-Cam Australia Alan Cant
Morris Cooper S Australia A. Colledge
Mazda RX-3 Australia Gary Cooke
Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III Australia Bill Dickson
Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 Australia Ian Diffen
Ford Escort Twin-Cam Australia Tony Farrell
Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 Australia Ian Geoghegan
Ford Escort Twin-Cam Australia Peter Granger
FIAT Australia Paul Gulson
Ford Escort Twin-Cam Australia Bob Holden
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 Australia B. Keightley
Morris Cooper S Australia C. Lambert
Ford Escort Twin-Cam Australia Geoff Leeds
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 Australia Ken Loughan
Morris Cooper S Australia Adrian Lewis
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 Australia John Lewis
Ford Escort Twin-Cam Australia P. Lyons
Morris Cooper S Australia Keith McCloy
Toyota Corolla Australia Mel McEwin
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 Australia Stewart McLeod
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 Australia Lakis Manticas
Mini Clubman GT Australia Rod Miles
Toyota Corolla Australia Peter Moore
Morris Cooper S Australia Rod Morris
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 Australia Ted Mudie
Toyota Corolla Australia Nick Munting
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 Australia Tony Niovanni
Ford Escort Twin-Cam Australia Eric Olsen
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 Australia Colin Pawson
Ford Escort Twin-Cam Australia John Piper
Ford Escort Twin-Cam Australia Graham Ritter
Ford Escort Twin-Cam Australia Garry Rowe
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 Australia John Stoopman
Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 Australia Werner Tullipan
Subaru 1300 Australia Elemer Vajda
Morris Cooper S Australia Tony Watts
  Two litre class competitors

Calendar

The 1973 Australian Touring Car Championship consisted of eight rounds.[2]

Rd. Circuit City / State Date Winner Team Report
1 Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 5 March Allan Moffat Ford Works Team
2 Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 18 March Allan Moffat Ford Works Team
3 Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 15 April Allan Moffat Ford Works Team
4 Wanneroo Park Perth Western Australia 6 May Allan Moffat Ford Works Team
5 Surfers Paradise International Raceway Surfers Paradise, Queensland 20 May Peter Brock Holden Dealer Team
6 Adelaide International Raceway Adelaide, South Australia 10 June Peter Brock Holden Dealer Team
7 Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 24 June Allan Moffat Ford Works Team
8 Warwick Farm Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 15 July Peter Brock Holden Dealer Team

Drivers Championship

Points were awarded 4-3-2-1 for the first four race positions, and then 9-6-4-3-2-1 for the top 6 of each class.

Pos Driver Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Pts
1 Allan Moffat 1st(13) 1st(13) 1st(13) 1st(13) 3rd(6) 2nd(9) 1st(13) Ret 80
2 Peter Brock 2nd(9) Ret Ret 2nd(9) 1st(13) 1st(13) DSQ 1st(13) 57
3 Graham Ritter 8th(9) 9th(9) (9) 7th(9) DNS 7th(9) Ret 6th(9) 54
4 Bob Holden (4) Ret (4) Ret 10th(9) 7th(6) 23
Eric Olsen Ret 10th(6) (3) 8th(6) 10th(6) (2) 23
6 Fred Gibson 2nd(9) 4th(4) 3rd(6) Ret 19
7 Murray Carter 5th(2) 4th(4) 3rd(6) 4th(4) 7th DNS 7th 5th(2) 18
8 Lawrie Nelson DSQ 2nd(9) 3rd(6) 15
Ian Geoghegan Ret Ret Ret 2nd(9) Ret Ret 3rd(6) 15
10 Bob Morris 4th(4) 2nd(9) 13
11 Colin Bond 2nd(9) 9
Lyndon Arnel 5th(9) 9
Tony Farrell (3) (6) 9
14 John Goss 3rd(6) DSQ Ret 5th(2) Ret Ret 8
15 John Stoopman 5th(2) 6th(1) 4th(4) 7
16 Graham Blanchard 10th 3rd(6) 8th 6
Bill Dickson 3rd(6) 6
Tony Watts 9th(6) 6
Mel McEwin (6) 6
Paul Gulson (6) 6
21 Bryan Thomson 4th(4) 6th(1) 5
Rod Morris (2) (3) 5
23 Bob Jane 4th(4) DSQ 4
Don Holland 9th 4th(4) 4
Ian Diffen 6th(1) 7th 5th(2) 8th 6th(1) 8th 4
John Piper (4) 4
Rod Miles (4) 4
Peter Moore (4) 4
Gary Cooke (4) 4
Geoff Leeds (4) 4
31 Adrian Lewis (3) 3
Keith McCloy (3) 3
Nick Munting (3) 3
Peter Granger (3) 3
35 Rod McRae DSQ 5th(2) 2
Tony Niovanni DSQ 7th 5th(2) 2
Lakis Manticas 5th(2) 2
A. Colledge (2) 2
P. Lyons (2) 2
Elemer Vajda (2) 2
Alan Cant (2) 2
42 Stewart McLeod 6th(1) 1
John Lewis 6th(1) 1
Dick Johnson 6th(1) 1
Garry Rowe (1) 1
Ted Mudie (1) 1
Pos Driver Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Pts
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not participate
Excluded (EX)
  Two litre class competitors

References