1973 Press-on-Regardless Rally

1973 Press-on-Regardless Rally
*25th Press-on-Regardless Rally*
1973 Press-on-Regardless Rally; 25th Press-on-Regardless Rally
Round 11 of the 1973 World Rally Championship season
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Host country	United States
Rally base	Detroit, Michigan
Dates run	31 October 1973 – 4 November 1973
Stages	85 (549.15 km; 341.23 miles)
Stage surface	Gravel
Overall distance	3,284.15 km (2,040.68 miles)
Statistics
Crews	58 at start, 23 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Walter Boyce; Doug Woods; Toyota Motorsport; Toyota Corolla

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	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

1973 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers points standings after round 11
After round 11		Team	Season end
Position	Points	Team	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