1973 Press-on-Regardless Rally
| 1973 Press-on-Regardless Rally 25th Press-on-Regardless Rally | |
|---|---|
| Round 11 of the 1973 World Rally Championship season | |
| Host country |
 United States |
| Rally base | Detroit, Michigan |
| Dates run | 31 October 1973 – 4 November 1973 |
| Stages | 85 (549.15 km; 341.23 mi) |
| Stage surface | Gravel |
| Overall distance | 3,284.15 km (2,040.68 mi) |
| Results | |
| Overall winner |
 Walter Boyce Doug Woods Toyota Motorsport |
| Crews | 58 at start, 23 at finish |
The 1973 Press-on-Regardless Rally (formally the 25th Press-on-Regardless Rally) was 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.
Report
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.
Results
| Finish | Total time |
Car # | Driver Co-driver |
Car | Mfr. points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 h : 58 m : 28.2 s | 110 | Walter Boyce Doug Woods |
Toyota Corolla |
20 |
| 2 | 7 h : 22 m : 43.2 s | 116 | Jim Walker Terry Palmer |
 Volvo 142 S |
15 |
| 3 | 7 h : 33 m : 36.0 s | 105 | John Smiskol Carol Smiskol |
Datsun 240Z |
12 |
| 4 | 7 h : 39 m : 1.8 s | 114 | John Buffum Wayne Zitkus |
 Ford Escort RS1600 |
10 |
| 5 | 7 h : 45 m : 0.6 s | 127 | John Rodgers Erik Brooks |
Datsun 1600 SSS |
|
| 6 | 7 h : 57 m : 30.6 s | 108 |  Robert Mucha Ryszard Żyszkowski |
Polski Fiat 125p |
6 |
| 7 | 8 h : 5 m : 4.6 s | 123 | Bill Dodd Rudy Kren |
Ford Capri 2600 |
|
| 8 | 8 h : 8 m : 12.0 s | 130 | Jim Callon Gary Hays |
Datsun 510 |
|
| 9 | 8 h : 9 m : 28.2 s | 136 | Steve Dorr Rick Andersson |
Datsun 510 |
|
| 10 | 8 h : 16 m : 12.6 s | 121 | Chuck McLaren Doug Leverton |
Datsun 510 |
|
| 11 | 122 | John Chalmers William Potvin |
Datsun 510 |
||
| 12 | 8 h : 20 m : 47.4 s | 117 | Andrzej Jaroszewicz Zbigniew Dziadura |
Polski Fiat 125p |
|
| 13 | 113 | Gary Neil Don Ramsay |
Datsun 1600 SSS |
||
| 14 | 8 h : 35 m : 58.8 s | 160 |  Edgar Herrmann Joe LeBeau |
Subaru GL |
|
| 15 | 8 h : 39 m : 10.8 s | 120 | Marek Varisella Janina Jedynak |
Polski Fiat 125p |
|
| Retired (accident) | 104 | Taisto Heinonen John Bellefleur |
 Opel Manta |
||
| Retired (mechanical) | 106 | Erhard Dahm Tom Grishaw |
Jeep Wagoneer |
||
| Retired (mechanical) | 107 | Gene Henderson Ken Pogue |
Jeep Wagoneer |
||
| Retired (excluded) | 109 | Scott Harvey Ralph Beckman |
Dodge Colt |
||
| Retired (accident) | 112 | Bob Hourihan Geraint Phillips |
Datsun 1800 SSS |
||
| Retired (time barred) | 147 | Randy Graves Ruth Heidel |
 Alpine-Renault A110 |
||
Source: Independent WRC archive[1]
Championship standings after the event
| After round 11 | Team | Season end | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Points | Position | Points | |
| 1 | 127 | Alpine Renault |
1 | 147 |
| 2 | 84 |  Fiat |
2 | 84 |
| 3 | 46 | Ford |
3 | 76 |
| 4 | 42 | Saab |
5 | 42 |
| 5 | 34 | Datsun |
6 | 34 |
| 6 | 34 | Volvo |
4 | 44 |
| 7 | 33 | Citroën |
7 | 33 |
| 8 | 25 | Toyota |
10 | 25 |
| 9 | 24 | BMW |
8 | 28 |
| 10 | 24 | Porsche |
9 | 27 |
| 11 | 18 | Polski Fiat |
12 | 18 |
| 12 | 17 | Lancia |
13 | 17 |
| 13 | 15 |  Wartburg |
14 | 15 |
| 14 | 15 | Opel |
11 | 25 |
| 15 | 14 | Volkswagen |
15 | 15 |
| 16 | 13 | Peugeot |
16 | 13 |
| 17 | 4 | Mitsubishi |
17 | 4 |
| 18 | 3 |  Škoda |
18 | 3 |
| 19 | 1 | Audi |
20 | 2 |
References
- ↑ "Press-on-Regardless Rally". juwra.com. Independent WRC archive. Retrieved 2017-03-16.