1973 1000 Lakes Rally 23rd 1000 Lakes Rally
Round 8 of the 1973 World Rally Championship season
Host country	Finland
Rally base	Jyväskylä, Finland
Dates run	3 August 1973 – 5 August 1973
Stages	43 (517 km; 321 miles)
Stage surface	Gravel
Overall distance	2,079 km (1,292 miles)
Statistics
Crews	109 at start, 55 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Timo Mäkinen Henry Liddon Ford Motor Company Ltd

The 1973 1000 Lakes Rally (formally the 23rd 1000 Lakes Rally) was the 23rd running of the 1000 Lakes Rally (currently known as the Rally Finland), and the eighth round of the inaugural World Rally Championship season.

Run in early August in central Finland, this rally marked a distinct change from the previous event in the series, the 33 Rajd Polski. Unlike that event, in which only three teams survived to the finish, Finland saw 55 teams finish the rally, a success rate of almost exactly 50% of the total entries.

In 1973, and for several years afterward, only manufacturers were given points for finishes in WRC events. Finland hosted Ford Motor Company's first ever win of the World Rally Championship.^[1] Championship front runners Alpine Renault and Fiat were conspicuous by their absence, with neither gaining points during the round.

1973 1000 Lakes Rally results

Finish		Total time	Group	Car #	Driver Co-driver	Car	Mfr. points
Overall	In group
1	1	4 h : 53 m : 50 s	2	4	Timo Mäkinen Henry Liddon	Ford Escort RS1600	20
2	2	4 h : 55 m : 59 s	2	29	Markku Alén Juhani Toivonen	Volvo 142	15
3	1	4 h : 57 m : 12 s	4	3	Leo Kinnunen Atso Aho	Porsche 911	12
4	3	4 h : 59 m : 28 s	2	1	Simo Lampinen John Davenport	Saab 96 V4	10
5	4	5 h : 3 m : 30 s	2	30	Antti Ojanen Heikki Miikki	Opel Ascona 19	8
6	5	5 h : 4 m : 3 s	2	38	Ulf Grönholm Henry Laine	Opel Ascona 19
7	6	5 h : 5 m : 43 s	2	26	Tapio Rainio Erkki Nyman	Saab 96 V4
8	2	5 h : 9 m : 43 s	4	122	Achim Warmbold Jean Todt	Fiat Abarth 124 Rallye
9	7	5 h : 11 m : 26 s	2	39	Pertti Lehtonen Ilkka Kivimäki	Saab 96 V4
10	8	5 h : 11 m : 36 s	2	12	Hannu Palin Jyrki Ahava	Opel Ascona 19
11	9	5 h : 14 m : 25 s	2	20	Esa Nuuttila Alf Krogell	Opel Ascona 19
12	10	5 h : 18 m : 23 s	2	24	Erkki Pitkänen Juhani Paalama	Volvo 142
13	1	5 h : 18 m : 52 s	1	50	Pertti Kärhä Seppo Siitonen	Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV
14	2	5 h : 22 m : 15 s	1	42	Jaakko Markula Asko Nevalainen	Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV
15	11	5 h : 23 m : 35 s	2	21	Markku Saaristo Ilkka Saaristo	Škoda 120S
16	12	5 h : 23 m : 49 s	2	7	Brian Culcheth Johnstone Syer	Morris Marina
17	3	5 h : 24 m : 47 s	1	52	Timo Sohlberg Matti Honkavaara	BMW 2002
18	13	5 h : 30 m : 54 s	2	63	Eeva Heinonen Seija Saaristo	Volvo 142
19	4	5 h : 38 m : 54 s	1	44	Erkki Pahkinen Jarmo Toivonen	Opel Ascona 19
20	5	5 h : 44 m : 41 s	1	73	Timo Jouhki Juha Piironen	Opel Ascona 19
21	6	5 h : 45 m : 4 s	1	58	Juha Leponiemi Matti Vilmi	BMW 2002
22	7	5 h : 46 m : 5 s	1	51	Kauko Mäkelä Jukka Miettinen	Peugeot 304S
23	8	5 h : 48 m : 14 s	1	53	Hans Sevelius Göran Sandström	Alfa Romeo 1600
24	14	5 h : 50 m : 52 s	2	61	Marketta Oksala Satu Valtaharju	Opel Ascona 19
27	16	5 h : 55 m : 7 s	2	86	Stasys Brundza Viktor Ilyin	Moskvitch 412
39	22	6 h : 16 m : 10 s	2	96	Peter Hommel Günter Bork	Wartburg 353
42	17	6 h : 22 m : 8 s	1	79	Horst Niebergall Harald Würfel	Wartburg 353
46	21	6 h : 27 m : 27 s	1	77	Egon Culmbacher Werner Ernst	Wartburg 353
Retired (mechanical)			2	2	Stig Blomqvist Arne Hertz	Saab 96 V4
Retired (illness)			2	5	Hannu Mikkola Erkki Rautanen	Volvo 142
Retired (mechanical)			4	6	Shekhar Mehta Ensio Mikander	Datsun 240Z
Retired (mechanical)			2	8	Per Eklund Björn Cederberg	Saab 96 V4
Retired			2	9	Pauli Toivonen Martti Tiukkanen	Simca 1000 Rallye
Retired			1	10	Guy Chasseuil Christian Baron	Simca 1000 Rallye
Retired			1	11	Jean-Marie Jacquemin Dorothé Jacquemin	Simca 1000 Rallye
Retired			2	13	Pekka Virtanen Jussi Eskola	Volvo 142
Retired			2	15	Matti Alamaula Tapio Siekkinen	Opel Ascona 19
Retired			2	16	Bob Hourihan Doug Woods	Datsun 1800 SSS
Retired			2	18	Pekka Vilpponen Ilpo Airila	Moskvitch 1500M
Retired (mechanical)			2	22	Pentti Airikkala Heikki Haaksiala	Opel Kadett Rallye
Retired			2	25	Paul Faulkner Monty Peters	Ford Escort RS1600
Retired			2	27	Scott Harvey Tom King	Dodge Colt
Retired (mechanical)			2	28	Jari Vilkas Juhani Soini	Saab 96 V4
Retired			2	33	Leif Asterhag Claes Billstam	BMW 2002
Retired			2	35	Lars Carlsson Thomas Fischer-Halbing	Opel Commodore GS/E
Retired			2	36	Eero Soutulahti Risto Anttila	Volvo 142
Retired			2	40	Hannu Valtaharju Raimo Alm	Opel Ascona 19
Retired			1	46	Esko Nuuttila Timo Harju	Opel Ascona 19
Retired			1	47	Kyösti Hämäläinen Veijo Aho	Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV
Retired			1	48	Arne Allansson Rolf Jägerstedt	BMW 2002
Retired			1	57	Heikki Enomaa Timo Alanen	BMW 2002
Retired			2	67	Fredrik Donner Heikki Nikki	Opel Ascona 19
Retired			2	76	Kastytis Girdauskas Valentin Kislykh	Moskvitch 412

Source: Independent WRC archive^[2]

1973 World Rally Championship for Manufacturers points standings after round 8

After round 8		Team	Season end
Position	Points		Position	Points
1	92	Alpine Renault	1	147
2	63	Fiat	2	84
3	36	Ford	3	76
4	33	Citroën	7	33
5	30	Saab	5	42
6	22	Datsun	6	34
7	20	Porsche	9	27
8	19	Volvo	4	44
9	15	Wartburg	14	15
10	14	Volkswagen	15	15
11	13	Peugeot	16	13
12	13	Lancia	13	17
13	13	Opel	11	25
14	12	Polski Fiat	12	18
15	4	BMW	8	28
	4	Mitsubishi	17	4
17	3	Škoda	18	3
18	2	Toyota	10	25
19	1	Audi	20	2

• Official website of the World Rally Championship
• 1973 1000 Lakes Rally at Rallye-info Archived 2020-06-27 at the Wayback Machine