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 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 1973 Press-on-Regardless Rally results Finish Totaltime Car # DriverCo-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 : 4 m : 54.6 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 8 h : 20 m : 47.4 s 117 Andrzej Jaroszewicz Zbigniew Dziadura Polski Fiat 125p 12 8 h : 21 m : 40.8 s 122 John Chalmers William Potvin Datsun 510 13 8 h : 35 m : 42.6 s 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 (engine) 106 Erhard Dahm Tom Grishaw Jeep Wagoneer Retired (engine) 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 Championship standings after the event 1973 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers points standings after round 11 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
Notes
References
External links Official website of the World Rally Championship 1973 Press-on-Regardless Rally at Rallye-info