1973 Australian Rally Championship


The 1973 Australian Rally Championship was a series of six rallying events held across Australia. It was the sixth season in the history of the competition.
Peter Lang and navigator Warwick Smith in the Holden Torana GTR XU-1 were the winners of the 1973 Championship.

Season review

The sixth Australian Rally Championship was decided over six events, staged across the Eastern States of Australia with two events each in New South Wales and Victoria and one each in Queensland and South Australia. The series saw more domination from the Holden Torana GTR XU-1's which won all six rounds, three wins for Peter Lang/Warwick Smith, two wins for Colin Bond/George Shepheard and one win for Steward McLeod/Adrian Mortimer. Lang and Smith managed high placings in the events that they didn't win and thus convincingly took out the 1973 championship.

The Rallies

The six events of the 1973 season were as follows.
RoundRallyDate
1Uniroyal Southern Rally 10/11 March 1973
2Classic Rally 24/25 March 1973
3Bunbury Curran 14/15 April 1973
4Bega Valley Rally (NSW)2–4 June 1973
5Warana Rally 22/23 September 1973
6Alpine Rally 8/9 December 1973

Round Six – Golden Alpine Rally

Note that Kilfoyle and Osborne won this event outright in a works Datsun 180B SSS but were ineligible for ARC points.
PositionDriverNavigatorCarPoints
1Peter LangWarwick SmithTorana GTR XU-1118
2Stewart McLeodAdrian MortimerTorana GTR XU-1132
3Bruce HodgsonFred GocentasFord XA Falcon GTHO147
4Ed MulliganMike BattenMazda RX-2 Coupe156
5Colin BondGeorge ShepheardTorana GTR XU-1744
6Roy DennyRichard DennyTriumph 2.5 PI776

1973 Drivers and Navigators Championships

Final pointscore for 1973 is as follows.