1973 Safari Rally

Infobox Rally
name=21st East Africa Safari Rally
native_name=
country=KEN
round=4


caption=
rallybase=Nairobi, Kenya
start=
finish=
startdate=April 19 1973
enddate=April 23 1973
stages=
stagekm=
controls=56
overallkm=5300
surface=Gravel
championship=1973 WRC for Manufacturers
driver1=flagicon|Kenya Shekhar Mehta
team1=
car1=Datsun 240Z
driver2=flagicon|Sweden Harry Källström
team2=
car2=Datsun 1800 SSS
driver3=flagicon|Sweden Ove Andersson
team3=
car3=Peugeot 504
teamsstart=89
teamsfinish=18

The 1973 East African Safari Rally was the 21st running of the Safari Rally, and the fourth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season. Run in mid-April in central Kenya, the Safari was a markedly different rally from the other dates on the WRC schedule. About 5300 km of gravel roads comprised the course, though there were not distinct special stages as in other rallies, but instead the course was uncontrolled. The rally was considered very punishing, and thus many of the successful teams were specifically focused on it, leading to a different set of front-runners than led most other rallies. The rally was won by a local driver, Shekhar Mehta.

In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. Like the drivers, the cars were different for Africa than for other rallies. As a result, the successful types did not mirror the results of other rallies on the circuit, and Datsun and Peugeot both made strong showings. Additionally, cars were not broken into separate groups or classes as in other rallies, so only overall results were classified. Time was not measured as the total elapsed through special stages as with other rallies, but instead a penalty was assessed at each time control for not meeting the target: total penalty time was the measure of who was in what place.

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Results

Championship standings

See also

* 1973 World Rally Championship season
* Safari Rally
* [http://www.rallybase.nl/index.php?type=result&rallyid=379 21st East African Safari Rally] at [http://www.rallybase.nl/ Rallybase]
* [http://www.juwra.com/safari_1973.html Safari 1973] at [http://www.juwra.com/ Jonkka's World Rally Archive]
* [http://www.rallye-info.com/event.asp?event=320 1973 Safari Rally, WRC Round 4] at [http://www.rallye-info.com/ Rallye-info]