The 1973 Swedish Rally (formally the 24th International Swedish Rally) was the second round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-February around Karlstad, Sweden, the rally was the only snow and ice rally of the WRC calendar, a distinction it would keep as it remained a fixture of the WRC through the years. Only in 2007 would it finally be joined on the schedule by a second snow rally in Norway.
Report In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. After the Alpine A110s dominated the earlier Monte Carlo Rally, Sweden was instead taken by Swedish drivers Stig Blomqvist and Per Eklund, both driving Swedish-built Saab 96 V4 cars. While Jean-Luc Thérier did get an Alpine onto the podium in third place, it was the only such car to finish and he was one of only two drivers not of Scandinavian nationality to complete the race.
Results 1973 Swedish Rally results Finish Totaltime Group Car # Driver Car Mfr.points Overall Ingroup 1 1 9 h : 18 m : 31 s 1/2 1 Stig Blomqvist Saab 96 V4 20 2 2 9 h : 20 m : 53 s 1/2 7 Per Eklund Saab 96 V4 3 1 9 h : 34 m : 12 s 4 11 Jean-Luc Thérier Alpine-Renault A110 1800 12 4 2 9 h : 37 m : 14 s 4 3 Harry Källstrom Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF 10 5 3 9 h : 40 m : 41 s 4 2 Håkan Lindberg Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye 8 6 3 9 h : 57 m : 28 s 1/2 4 Björn Waldegård Volkswagen 1303S 6 7 4 10 h : 0 m : 58 s 1/2 10 Bror Danielsson BMW 2002 4 8 5 10 h : 35 m : 41 s 1/2 18 John Haugland Škoda 110L 3 9 6 10 h : 36 m : 42 s 1/2 9 Per-Inge Walfridsson Volvo 142 S 2 10 7 10 h : 37 m : 22 s 1/2 14 Fredrik Donner Opel Ascona 1 11 8 10 h : 38 m : 7 s 1/2 33 Stig Abrahamsson Saab 96 V4 12 9 10 h : 39 m : 23 s 1/2 28 Kjell Ivarsson Saab 96 V4 13 10 10 h : 41 m : 31 s 1/2 13 Per Tjerneld Opel Ascona 14 11 10 h : 44 m : 30 s 1/2 8 Jean-Pierre Nicolas Renault 12 Gordini 15 12 10 h : 49 m : 25 s 1/2 52 Sören Bergstedt Renault 12 Gordini 16 13 10 h : 50 m : 3 s 1/2 64 Per Engseth Volkswagen 1303S 17 14 11 h : 2 m : 52 s 1/2 17 Hans Sevelius Alfa Romeo Giulia S 18 15 11 h : 6 m : 50 s 1/2 47 Jan Carlsson Volvo 142 S 19 16 11 h : 8 m : 21 s 1/2 16 Egil Stenshagen Datsun Cherry E 20 17 11 h : 12 m : 34 s 1/2 20 Ole Edvin Granberg BMW 2002 21 18 11 h : 16 m : 9 s 1/2 38 Erik Aaby Opel Ascona 22 19 11 h : 19 m : 32 s 1/2 45 Bjørn Flygind Opel Ascona 23 20 11 h : 30 m : 56 s 1/2 57 Freddy Kottulinsky Toyota Corolla 24 21 11 h : 38 m : 33 s 1/2 51 Mats Andersson Saab 96 V4 25 22 11 h : 41 m : 59 s 1/2 25 Johnny Lindersson Volvo 142 S Retired 4 6 Ove Andersson Lancia Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF Retired 1/2 12 Lars Nyström Volkswagen 1303S Retired 1/2 18 Roger Johansson Saab 96 V4 Retired 1/2 21 Bernard Darniche Renault 12 Gordini Source: Independent WRC archive
Championship standings after the event 1973 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers points standings after round 2 After round 2 Team Season end Position Points Position Points 1 32 Alpine Renault 1 147 2 20 Saab 5 42 3 13 Lancia 13 17 2 12 Fiat 2 84 6 10 Ford 3 76 7 6 Volkswagen 15 15 8 4 BMW 8 28 9 3 Škoda 18 3 10 2 Datsun 6 34 11 2 Volvo 4 44 12 1 Opel 11 25
References
External links Official website of the World Rally Championship 1973 Swedish Rally at Rallye-info